It also focuses on promoting efficient mapping of talents for a sustainable ecosystem, while promoting industry technology certifications.

An official statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra on Thursday, said the company had toured some 16 universities  through exciting and interactive road shows to give the students the opportunity to compete in the 2019-2020 edition of the Huawei ICT Skill Competition.

They include the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana Technology University College (GTUC), University of Ghana, University of Mines and Technology (UMAT), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), University of Development Studies (UDS), the Technical Universities in Takoradi, Accra and Koforidua.

The tour also took them to top Science and ICT private universities, such as the Regent University and Datalink University.

It gave the students the opportunity to interact with Huawei ICT Academy officials to learn all about the competition.

It also served as a platform to discuss latest technology trends with the students and enlighten them on Huawei certifications and its relevance for students who hoped to pursue and excel in their careers in the ICT and Telecoms industry.

A large number of them registered for the Competition, which would be carried out in four stages; with the Preliminary Stage, scheduled for the third week of November.

 It would be followed by the National Finals in the 2nd week of December.

The National Finals will bring together the top 100 students to compete for the selection the top three students to represent Ghana and contest their counterparts from more than 100 universities across Africa.

During the roadshow at the Koforidua Technical University (KTU), according to the statement, Mr. David Appiah, Public Relations Manager at Huawei Ghana, who spoke on the theme of competition, "Connection, Glory, Future", said it would offer students the opportunity to have a brighter career in ICT while, providing them the needed connection to industry and like-minded students around the globe.

Technology, he said, was the future, therefore, students should take such competitions seriously to develop themselves.

 Research, he said, had proven that while 700,000 plus professionals were expected to enter the ICT industry by 2023, there would be a probable shortage of seven million IT professionals in the tech ecosystem by 2030.

"With opportunities like this from Huawei, students stand the chance of mining their gold if they take their studies and lifetime opportunities like the Huawei Academy and Certification seriously," he said.

Mr. Geoffrey Li, Director for Enterprise at Huawei Ghana , stated during an interaction with some past and aspiring participants at the Huawei Headquarters in Ghana that: "The ICT Competition is part of the Huawei Academy's initiative, which seeks to develop the ICT Talent Ecosystem through professional skill training and collaboration with Academia.

"This is in line with Ghana's digitization agenda and as such Huawei will continue to partner, train and prepare students and ICT professionals to build their interest in ICT and complement their skills for a robust and sustainable talent ecosystem.

"As a leading global ICT industry, Huawei believes in building the capacity of people to equip them for the future and in light of this, Huawei will continue to invest in such resources".

The Regional Stage will be held in February, 2020, with the Global Finals coming off in May 2020.

 The final stage will see successful teams from the continent, competing for the ultimate glory in China.

Participants also have a chance to win internship opportunities and trips to South Africa and China. Smart devices such as laptops, phones, and watches are also on offer.

Last year, more than 500 ICT and Engineering students from top Ghanaian universities participated in the talent search, with 100 qualifying from the preliminaries, according to the statement.

Timothy Seffah-Duodu, a final year Engineering Student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), emerged the overall Best Student in Ghana.

KNUST also produced the top three candidates who represented Ghana at the Regional Stage in South Africa in February early this year.

The Huawei ICT Competition will be carried out in two tracks; the Network Track and the Cloud Track.

The Network Track will enhance and test students' knowledge in Routing and Switching (Networking), WLAN and Security; while the Cloud Track will focus on AI, Big Data, Storage and Cloud Computing.

Students are required to select a field under one track for the competition. 

Huawei has also made available, comprehensive study materials and video tutorials to help students prepare adequately.

These materials are free and available online. Registration is also free.

"Huawei invites both vocational and university students to participate in the "Huawei ICT Competition Southern Africa 2019-2020," the statement urged.

"Interested students can learn more and register for the competition by visiting: e.huawei.com/cn/talent".