Africa’s telecommunication giants MTN will cooperate with Huawei, a leading Chinese Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company to boost Africa’s digital transformation, a release has said.
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Barcelona, Spain, the two companies said they would create a Joint Innovation Technology Laboratory, aiming to deepen cooperation in technological innovation.
The partners said they would establish the Innovation Technology Lab at MTN Group’s headquarters in South Africa to serve as a neutral platform for collaboration within the African digital ecosystem, and accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of innovative digital solutions driven across the continent.
The initiative will focus its research and development (R&D) efforts on key areas such as 5G and beyond, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data analytics, cloud computing, and digital financial services, added the release.
It added that “The partnership aims to accelerate the time-to-market of MTN’s products and services while addressing the unique challenges faced in Africa, including improving network coverage in rural areas, enhancing energy efficiency, and affordability.”
For that reason, the release said MTN’s operational teams would actively participate in the innovation process, ensuring the solutions developed directly address real-world challenges and drive meaningful digital transformation and sustainable development in Africa.
The partnership is a further demonstration of the shared commitment of the two companies to shaping Africa’s digital landscape, opening new pathways for innovation and digital inclusion, and economic growth, added the release.
“The Joint Innovation Technology Lab is more than a partnership between two companies: it is an investment in the growth of Africa’s digital ecosystem,
“We believe that collaboration is essential for developing solutions that truly meet the continent’s needs, and this Lab will pave the way for a more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous future for Africa,” Mazen Mroue, Group Chief Technology and Information Officer for MTN, said.
Li Peng, Huawei’s Corporate Senior Vice-President and President of ICT Sales and Service, pledged that Chinese technology giants would continue innovating with MTN to develop the products and solutions required to best serve Africa’s unique market.
This, he believed would give MTN a competitive edge in terms of network quality, user experience, and rapid deployment, while enabling the telecommunication company to achieve its own business objectives.
“We believe that this newly established lab will help supercharge both MTN’s R&D as well as Africa’s digital economy, bringing more prosperity to the African continent,” Li stated.