By In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese technology company, Huawei has developed three pragmatic solutions to support Africans and their governments in this unprecedented context.
In view of the alarming progress of the epidemic in Africa, where the number of patients and affected countries is rising constantly, Huawei is taking a scientific and pragmatic approach to fighting it alongside governments, health agencies, businesses and individuals.
Three key initiatives have been identified by the company to combat the pandemic: identifying those infected, providing increased support to medical personnel, and maintaining economic activity during quarantine and containment periods.
Huawei’s proven expertise in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enables it to offer three different sets of tools with demonstrated effectiveness in meeting the challenges of maintaining economic activity and training while protecting populations.
As a means of detecting as many COVID-19 cases as possible, Huawei is offering African governments an effective ICT-based “temperature screening and monitoring system” that can be put at airports and ports and at the entrance to specific buildings.
Once proven cases have been identified, Huawei is helping to ensure timely treatment and support to medical staff and health authorities already struggling with the rapid spread of the virus by providing free high-speed WIFI coverage throughout the African continent. This will facilitate remote consultations, protect medical professionals from the risk of infection and ensure maximum safety of medical resources.
Continuing its support for the medical sector, Huawei has already begun assisting a number of African countries, such as Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. In Tunisia, Huawei is working alongside the government to modernize its equipment and train women in ICT jobs. In the DRC and Cameroon, the company has donated supplies such as masks, protective gloves and hand disinfectant.
Lastly, given the potentially dramatic economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, there is an urgent need to develop new ways of working to sustain Africa’s exceptional growth momentum.
Huawei has decided to provide worldwide access to a secure and reliable “video conferencing and telecommuting system” to support economic activity and professional interaction and to help governments and medical agencies tackle this epidemic remotely, so as to contain it as quickly as possible.
Maureen Akello, Kampala
