Steven Zhang, deputy chief executive officer at Huawei Kenya, said the company has enhanced its collaboration with the public sector and academia to nurture the next generation of cyber warriors responsible for safeguarding the country's digital infrastructure.
Through partnership with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), a regulatory agency for telecommunications and broadcasting industries, and the Kenyan Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Huawei supported the 2025 Cybersecurity Bootcamp, which attracted more than 3,000 applications, Zhang said.
He said the strategic partnership with state agencies has been pivotal in securing Kenya's cyberspace through providing training and mentorship to youth pursuing information and communications technology (ICT)-related courses in tertiary institutions.
The event to award participants who excelled in the bootcamp was attended by senior government officials, industry executives, faculty members, students and technology enthusiasts.
CA Director General David Mugonyi hailed the partnership with Huawei to help build a critical mass of cybersecurity personnel in Kenya.
Mugonyi said sustaining growth of Kenya's digital economy, which is a major source of employment for the youth, hinges on reskilling cyber warriors capable of detecting, reporting and preventing threats such as hacking.
Chrispin Oguna, a trainer at Huawei ICT Academy and a lecturer at a private tertiary institution, said the 2025 Cybersecurity Bootcamp was conducted in three phases, covering self-study, live and onsite training, with 15 national finalists demonstrating prowess in firewall configurations.
Oguna stressed that the rapid evolution of the digital economy in Kenya calls for providing advanced skills to local youth in the field of cybersecurity, adding that participants at the bootcamp have gained insight into data security, storage, cloud, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
