Huawei has signed a global commitment to join the International Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect digital alliance, which will bring connectivity to about 120 million people in remote areas in more than 80 countries by 2025.

Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, announced the decision at the company’s 2022 Sustainability Forum, Connectivity+: Innovate for Impact.

The forum explored how ICT innovation could unleash the business and social value of connectivity and drive sustainability in the digital economy era.

Speakers at the event included senior leaders from the ITU and United Nations, telecom ministers and regulators in Cambodia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and business leaders, partners, experts, and customers from China, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany.

“It is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be affordable, the content must be relevant and in the local language, and users must have the skills to make best use of it,” said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson.

“Thank you to Huawei for their support of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, and for their announced P2C pledges in the key areas of rural connectivity and digital skills.”

Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, called for “multi-stakeholder partnerships” of policymakers, the private sector, academia, and civil society to close “the sobering reality”of a digital divide which excluded a third of the global population.

“Our dynamic world urgently needs improved digital cooperation to capitalize on the transformational potential of technology to create new jobs, boost financial inclusion, close the gender gap, spur a green recovery and redesign our world to be more prosperous and inclusive,” he said.”Now is the time to act”.

In his keynote address, Dr Liang stressed that access to astable network was a basic requirement and right in the digital age. For many who remain unconnected, access to reliable connectivity would mark the first step towards transforming their lives.

“Connectivity will be more than just a tool for convenient communications,” he said.

“Together with digital technologies like cloud and AI, connectivity will help bring everyone into the digital world, and provide them with access to more information and skills, better services, and wider business opportunities. This will, in turn, drive further social and economic development.”

Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Solution, said:”As an enterprise with the most complete ICT capabilities, Huawei integrates the full-technology innovation potentialof equipment, sites, energy, transmission, and antennas to address the difficulties faced by traditional site deployment, such as high costs, restricted transportation, lack of power, and maintenance challenges. We have continuously upgraded the RuralStar and RuralLink solutions to extend quality coverage to remote areas, enabling more people, community hospitals, schools, local governments, and small- and medium-sized enterprises to enjoy the same high-speed broadband connectivity experiences as those in cities”.

The RuralStar series solutions have provided connections for more than 60 million people in remote areas in more than 70 countries.

The construction of optical broadband networks offers another important route to realizing a universal service.

Huawei has proposed an innovative AirPON solution forareas with low population density, including remote areas.

This solution continuously reduces the footprint of equipment rooms, optical fiber installation costs, and network power consumption, while ensuring the rapid deployment of local communication networks.

In Africa alone, Huawei has laid more than 250,000 kilometers of optical fibers, enabling 30 million households to access high-speed broadband.

User experience has seen constant improvement.

The average speed of home broadband already exceeds 30 Mbit/s, bringing smarter, faster, and smoother home network experience.

As ICT infrastructure continues to evolve, innovative technologies like cloud and AI are allowing those in rural and remote areas to enjoy the convenience of a digital world.

Huawei Cloud has proposed the Everything as a Service strategy and made Huawei’s more than 30 years of technical expertise and digital transformation experience available through cloud services.

This means that access to Huawei’s digital infrastructure capabilities on the cloud is now just as easy, affordable, and sustainable as water and electricity.

Digital transformation, digital talent, and new business models are all essential for balanced development in remote regions.

Huawei previously announced that by 2025, with the improved ICT infrastructure, the companywill work with partners to enable 500 million people to enjoy digital financial services and 500,000 people to enjoy inclusive education.

In Cambodia, the ITU’s first P2C partner country, Huawei will work with government departments through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and universities to provide 10,000 training opportunities for ICT professionals in the next five years.

Huawei is committed to inclusive development.

Through its ongoing technological innovation, Huawei is contributing to a higher level of digitalization in remote regions, enabling everyone to enjoy the convenience of a digital life, and promoting the balanced development of the global digital economy.

The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) charged ZESCO and the Zimbabwe Power Company US$12,098 million in penalties for over-utilizing water meant for electricity generation at Lake Kariba in the financial year ending 31st December 2021.

This is in line with the provisions of Statutory Instrument Number 109/199 (Water Tariff) by-laws.

As of 31st December 2021, the power utility firms had cumulatively utilised 49.76 billion cubic metres of water.

According to ZRA’s 2021 annual report, the 49.76 billion cubic metres (BCM) translate into 11 per cent above the 2021 combined but equally shared allocation of 45 BCM respectively.

“Kariba North Bank Power Station utilised 25.18 BCM, which was 12 per cent above the 22. 5 BCM water allocation while Kariba South Bank Power Station utilized 24.58 BCM, which is 9 per cent above the 22.5 BCM water allocation,” the report stated.

The annual report further revealed that the impact of the two power utilities exceeding their 2021 water allocation was a drawdown in the lake level from the projected 2021 closing lake level of 19.15 BCM or 30 percent usable storage to the closing level of 2021.

The authority however continued to engage the power utility companies to reduce generation.

ZRA also disclosed that water quality data collection and processing was carried out for some stations on Lake Kariba and the Zambezi River.

The water quality remained within acceptable authority standards.

“The water samples that were analysed during the period under review were observed to be within the authority’s quality guidelines, indicating a healthy aquatic ecosystem,” the report read.

Ndola District Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Paul Chisunka has called on the New Dawn government to address the high cost of doing business in Zambia as a way of supporting entrepreneurship.

In commemorating Global Entrepreneurship Week, Mr. Chisunka cited expensive, inadequate financial capital, limited access to markets, a cumbersome regulatory and licensing regime as some major challenges affecting entrepreneurs.

He advocated the enacting of Local Content legislation to prompt major buyers such as the government and the mines to make a conscious deliberate effort to strengthen local value chains.

Mr. Chisunka said the Ndola Chamber believes that the ongoing shift towards a business-friendly environment is the best catalyst to unleash Zambia’s entrepreneurial spirit.

“To support and nurture entrepreneurship, we need to urgently address severe constraints such as the high cost of doing business in Zambia which is further compounded by expensive and inadequate financial capital, limited access to markets, a cumbersome regulatory and licensing regime, insufficient R & D, weak governance and management systems, low skills and entrepreneurial competencies, as well as a low uptake of modern technologies to help revolutionize business processes and improve the quality of products and services offered to consumers. We also believe that the fastest way to orchestrate Entrepreneurship Development and super-charge the Zambian economy is to open up markets by enacting Local Content legislation to prompt major buyers such as government and the mines to make a conscious deliberate effort to strengthen local value chains and local supply chains by buying from Zambian manufacturers, service providers, and other suppliers,” Mr. Chisunka said.

“On the Policy and regulatory front, entrepreneurs are largely represented amongst MSMEs so the Revised MSME Policy is highly anticipated. We expect the new MSME Policy to re-define and re-classify MSMEs in a manner that does not expose them to unfair competition. The Policy should promote MSME growth and development by introducing higher turnover brackets and employee thresholds, and accord MSMEs better tax and regulatory treatment, as well as reduced statutory fees. Single licensing, simplified administrative procedures and reduced paperwork for MSME registration and compliance will provide immediate financial relief and encouragement for MSMEs to regularize themselves and become compliant. This will increase the number of MSMEs that can be on-boarded into the mainstream economy. If we do it properly, it will result in a higher rate of expansion in the Zambian economy through the combined economic activities of various MSMEs spread across the country in both urban and rural areas,” he stated.

Mr. Chisunka said there is a need to create a sustainable business ecosystem that links entrepreneurs to indispensable partners, thereby making it possible to undertake profitable ventures in a socially and environmentally responsible manner that benefits communities and generates revenue for the government.

“To build a critical mass of entrepreneurs, Zambia needs infrastructure and deep rooted synergies involving the Government, Academia, Private Sector, Civil Society, and Development Partners. This will allow us to draw powerful capabilities and resources that each respective stakeholder is able to bring in the form of policy, research, commercial skill, best practices, capital and international facilitation. The combination of these factors will create a sustainable business ecosystem that links entrepreneurs to indispensable partners, therefore making it possible to undertake profitable ventures in a socially and environmentally responsible manner that benefits communities and generates revenue for the government. In order to reduce the cost of doing business and the cost of living, we urge the government to pay particular attention to tackling cost related bottlenecks in the business regulatory environment and to completely move away from a high tax regime,” Mr. Chisunka said.

He said lower tax rates can also encourage banks to reduce interest rates and make money more affordable to borrow for businesses and households.

“We emphasize that high taxes and over regulation are a disservice to our economy because they damage the production and operational efficiencies of businesses which makes goods and services expensive thus adding inflationary pressure and weakening the purchasing power of consumers. We propose that lower tax bands and policy incentives be introduced for MSMEs, cottage industries, and cooperatives. This will act as a countervailing measure against unfair competition and help to revive Zambia’s industrial base by promoting value addition and providing necessary safeguards to infant industries.”

“Research shows that higher tax rates can sometimes decrease the tax base, which will lead to the decrease in tax revenues even if the tax rates are high. The case to systematically reduce taxes is therefore strong and cannot be over emphasized because, by identifying and lowering high taxes we can boost local and foreign investments resulting in more output, higher employment, better standards of living, and more tax revenue. Lower tax rates can also encourage banks to reduce interest rates and make money more affordable to borrow for businesses and households,” he said.