Africa Green ICT Webinar 2022, co-hosted by Huawei and Informa, concluded on June 14. With the theme of "Green ICT, Lighting up a Sustainable Continent", the virtual event brought together industry leaders from Huawei, IHS Towers, Omdia, and Green Power Technologie to discuss how digitalization and decarbonization can drive green growth in Africa.
As the world works towards carbon neutrality, many African countries have accelerated the energy transition by integrating renewable targets into their national energy plans and adopting innovative power solutions. ICT innovation plays a critical role in the green growth in Africa.
As a leader in ICT innovations, Huawei focuses on three areas to drive green development: building green ICT infrastructure, increasing the proportion of renewables in electricity generation, and enabling green industries.
Alvin Gong, President of Huawei Northern African Digital Power Business, said in his speech, "In the ICT industry, Huawei has had successful experiences in Northern Africa in the past few years. We have built 3-Level Systematic Solutions for Higher Energy Efficiency, including the green site, the green network, and green operation. These solutions contribute to the achievement of green ICT goals."
Thecla Mbongue, Senior Research Analyst at Omdia, delved deep into the Green ICT development from an African perspective. "In Africa, limited access to power makes resorting to Green ICT a necessity rather than only a zero-carbon emission goal initiative," she said at the webinar.
Atef Marzouk, Energy Senior Consultant in Huawei Northern Africa Digital Power Business, shared his thoughts on how green energy policies support the continent's green transition. He pointed out that renewable energy policies are the catalyst for an accelerated transformation in the market. "Fiscal and financial policies are essential for increasing renewable energy (RE) deployment. It is important for the government to fix its target and develop RE by reducing tax and others," Atef said.
Abdallah Al Chammas, CEO of IHS Cameroon, analyzed challenges facing the ICT industry in improving energy efficiency and shared insights into the industry trends and good practices in the green development for tower companies. He stressed that governments, operators, service providers, and tower companies should work together to drive the sustainable development of the telecommunication industry and bring good to the public.
Seif Sedky, CEO of Europe & MEA at Green Power Technologie, said that " With global warming accelerating, it is critical to act fast to achieve carbon neutrality. Green Power Technology's mission is to leverage its expertise and knowledge of the African market to develop a powerful ecosystem of partners able to deploy, operate and manage efficiently Huawei smart and powerful PV solutions."
Together with its customers and partners, Huawei will continuously innovate, use green ICT to empower green development, use bits to manage watts, and spur green growth in Africa.