Kenyan Students Excel at Huawei ICT Global Finals 2025
Kenya is celebrating a major achievement after 12 university students secured top honors at the Huawei ICT Competition Global Finals 2024–2025, held from May 20 to 24 in Shenzhen, China. Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula recognized their accomplishment during a ceremony at Parliament Buildings, commending the students for their brilliance and urging them to leverage emerging technologies to build impactful solutions.
Representing universities like JKUAT, Machakos University, Moi University, and the University of Nairobi, the students competed against peers from across the world and took home four major international awards, a testament to Kenya’s growing strength in ICT innovation and education.
The awards included:
- First Prize in the Computing Track, won by a joint team from JKUAT and Machakos University.
- Second Prize in the Network Track, achieved by a mix of students from Machakos, JKUAT, and UoN.
- Second Prize in the Cloud Track, secured by students from JKUAT and Moi University.
- Third Prize in the Innovation Track, awarded to Egerton University’s “Silicon Savannah” team for their Smart Air Quality Monitoring System, which enables real-time data for healthier urban planning.
Notably, Kenya also fielded an all-female team, which received the Women in Technology Award. The team featured students from JKUAT and Moi University, showing a rising trend of female participation in STEM disciplines.
Stephen Zhang, Deputy CEO of Huawei Kenya, emphasized that such competitions are key to addressing the global tech talent shortage and driving forward Kenya’s digital transformation.
The competition is part of Huawei’s broader effort to nurture digital talent. Since its launch in Kenya, over 12,000 students have participated, with 50 reaching global finals. Many winners join Huawei’s Management Trainee Program or work with tech partners across industries.
In April 2025, Huawei reaffirmed its commitment by signing a three-year MoU with Kenya’s State Department for TVET. This will establish 150 Huawei ICT Academies, train 1,000 students annually, and support instructor development, cementing Kenya’s role as a continental tech leader.
These victories underscore the nation’s readiness to lead in areas like AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, and prove that with the right support, Kenyan youth can compete—and win—on the global tech stage.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4zvCVs9DAA
