Huawei has launched a talent development program for African digital power to drive sector growth.

Huawei Digital Power has launched a talent development program with the goal of upskilling 1,000 practitioners and tertiary students in the digital power space.

The program is being launched in seven countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, as the demand for technical staff in renewable energy continues to rise year after year.

The program, which was announced at the Solar Show Africa 2022, is part of the tech giant’s commitment to collaborate with stakeholders to drive growth and ecosystem development in Africa’s solar sector. The training provided will ensure that all participants have the necessary certification to participate in the continent’s solar space.

As a result, continuous industry certifications will be strengthened, technical professionalism will be increased, local technology and skill transfer will be promoted, and the rate of recruitment and retention of highly skilled technical personnel will be increased. The Huawei Digital Power talent program will include a theoretical component as well as hands-on operations. There will be on-site practice opportunities as well as a training camp.

“The challenge is that a company interested in the renewables sector would need to hire the necessary skills in year one and provide product-specific, on-the-job training for the first two years to ensure they are ready for a project in year three – which isn’t always feasible.” Experience is usually required to design and deliver a wind or solar plant, which is difficult to obtain when sectors and technologies are still relatively new. As a result, we expect growth in this sector, but we lack the skills to support it,” said Mr. Xia Hesheng, President of Huawei Southern Africa Digital Power Business.

It is a response to a major challenge faced by solar companies, where new hires typically lack the experience, training, and technical skills required to perform many of the emerging jobs in the sector, particularly with the increase of utility-scale projects as many countries move to increase off-grid electricity generation.

According to data, solar and wind capacity increased by 13% and 11%, respectively, between 2019 and 2020. He went on to say that because African countries have more than 40% of the world’s solar energy resources, it is even more critical that the right skills are in place to realize that potential.

The training program comes at a time when it is becoming clear that renewables will be critical to Africa meeting its development goals while also meeting its climate commitments. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, renewable energy capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased to 3% of total installed capacity. According to the agency, Africa currently has a demand for nearly 100,000 technicians per year, but the sector employs less than 20,000 people.

Some countries, such as Kenya, continue to be an emerging hub for stand-alone system innovation and adoption, while others, such as Tanzania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, have implemented dedicated policies and regulations. Digital technology will be critical in ensuring that the renewables revolution is as efficient as possible.

Renewables will evolve into a digital future in which every stage of power generation, transmission, storage, trading, and use will be digitalized in order to be better monitored and managed for cost, safety, reliability, and efficiency. Huawei excels at this due to its ICT expertise. As a result, its participation provides a very good supplement to the African industry in terms of upscaling personnel and enriching solutions.

“We have been working in the field of PV for almost a decade at Huawei, using a bit to manage watt, allowing each ray of sunlight to generate more electricity,” Xia explained.