Residents of Zimbabwe gather at a booth set up by Chinese tech firm Huawei during the 57th Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, April 28, 2016. (Xinhua/Stringer)

HARARE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Huawei Zimbabwe has partnered with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) to launch the first Huawei Certified Network Graduate (HCNG) program for science, technology and engineering students and graduates of Zimbabwean universities.

UZ vice chancellor Paul Mapfumo said on Wednesday that the program will start at the UZ-Huawei ICT Training Center at the university's main campus in August 2019.

"The program, which is part of an initiative adopted by Huawei and UZ to enhance graduate employability, is geared towards enhancing professional skills among graduates through an industry based curriculum," he said.

"Undergraduate and graduate students will be exposed to end-to-end holistic ICT training covering IP, Wireless and Fixed Transmission, and Core Networks," he said in a speech read on his behalf by UZ pro-vice chancellor (Academic Affairs) Rosemary Moyana.

Mapfumo was addressing guests at the launch of the Huawei 2019 Seeds for the Future program, which saw the sending off of 10 university students to China on an ICT study tour.

"Under the partnership, Huawei has already handed over to the institution state of the art ICT training equipment including routers, Customer Premises Equipment, base stations, servers and simulators," he said.

"The effectiveness of the ICT joint training programs depends to a considerable extent on the availability of state of the art laboratories and training equipment. We are, therefore, very grateful to Huawei for donating this training equipment," he said.

He said that the collaboration between UZ and Huawei Technologies was in line with the major thrust of the University of Zimbabwe Strategic Plan (2019-2023) to achieve excellence in the advancement of knowledge through innovative educational programs and apply that knowledge through local, regional and international engagement in order to catapult the University of Zimbabwe to the highest levels in terms of ranking among institutions on the African continent.

"These programs highlight Huawei's philosophy of collaboration between academia and industry. Successful collaboration between academia and industry is key towards the advancement and growth of higher education in Zimbabwe," he said.

He said the transfer of technology, sharing of industry know-how and best practices, joint problem solving as well as collaboration in technical areas, research and human capital training, were among the many benefits of a strong relationship between the academia and the industry.

"The ultimate aim is to prepare university students and graduates to thrive in a global, technology- and innovation-centric economy and the opportunities it presents.

"The ICT Talent Development program does not merely indicate a commitment to academic cooperation between Zimbabwean universities and Huawei; it is also a symbol of the growing friendship between Zimbabwe and China," Mapfumo said.