Huawei makes strides to bridge digital divide in Africa

Huawei has released its annual ‘Connecting the Future’ report which outlines the company’s corporate sustainability programme over the last twelve months.

The report focuses on four areas which the company deem central to sustainability; global climate change, the digital divide, and security of telecommunications networks, as well as work in supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is crucial for human progress in modern society, and connectivity-centred technologies are catalysing transformation in every industry,” said Kevin Tao, chairman of Huawei’s Corporate Sustainability Development (CSD) Committee. “In addition to boosting business efficiency and enriching people’s lives, ICT is transforming societies in ways that create economic opportunities, protect the environment, and make our world more sustainable.”

In terms of the digital divide, the company claim to have deployed more than 50% of the wireless base stations, over 70% of LTE networks, and at least 50,000 kilometres of optical fibre cable in Africa, as well as building 500 new bases stations in Sri Lanka. Although these are certainly credible achievements, pessimists within the industry will point out these are markets which present lucrative opportunities for the business.