Huawei lured to assemble products in Malawi
President Lazarus Chakwera has invited Huawei Technologies Company Limited, a Chinese multinational technology corporation, to establish a base in Malawi for assembling its products.
The President persuaded the company when he visited its headquarters in Shenzhen, China on Saturday as part of a series of visits made on the sidelines of the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo which took place between June 29 and July 1 in Changsha, China.
“In fact, I see no reason why Malawi cannot become the place in southern Africa where certain components of Huawei products for the region are assembled which would align well with our industrialisation aspirations,” said Chakwera.
He said Huawei has supported the implementation of the Malawi National Fibre Backbone Project, whose second phase was launched in Lilongwe in June of 2021.
The firm also supported the construction of the country’s National Data Centre, which President Chakwera commissioned in Blantyre last year.
Malawi Government on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening digital transformation between Huawei Technologies and ministries of Energy and Information and Digitalisation.
In an interview, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola said the deal reflects some of the mega trends of digitalisation, decarbonisation, digital inclusion and sustainable development, adding that it will help Malawi fulfil its potential in a sustainable way.
Minister of Information and Digitalisation Moses Kunkuyu said: “Malawi is committed to embarking on the fast-track of the digital economy, and Huawei has been our reliable partner.
