Huawei launches improved networking solutions to support Kenya’s growing digital economy

By Millicent Mwololo

Chinese communication technology giant, Huawei, has launched enhanced networking solutions for its Kenyan clients to boost the growth of the local digital economy.

The solutions target state agencies, corporate organisations, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alike.

Huawei East Africa Enterprise Managing Director, Kevin Wenkai, said at the launch on April 26, 2024 in Nairobi that the new features of the company’s Internet Protocol (IP) and OptiX products and solutions will boost Kenya’s quest to become a digital economic hub that promises jobs and prosperity for all citizens.

Kenya is implementing digital transformations in various industries. For instance, in the public sector, ICT is being harnessed to build the digital superhighway for all government services. In the financial sector, banks have built technologies that offer their customers convenience and higher efficiency.

“For the digital transformation Kenya, we want to move industries towards end-to-end network automation. From network planning to deployment and optimisations, we want to visualise an intelligent and automated network,” said Lyu Han, the Chief Solution Architect atHuawei East Africa Enterprise Ltd. Han was speaking at the OptiX Club and Summit in Nairobi, where Huawei discussed progress in its network technologies.

In Kenya, Huawei has introduced the 5G technologies for the wireless campus solutions. Huawei 5G technologies can be used to help build the high-quality 10 Gbps campus and broadband Hisec SASE solution. Also, if some sites do not have optical connections, Huawei can use the 5G network technologies to make the uplink connections get the experience for all the users, said Han.

Huawei’s cutting-edge solutions have had a profound impact on data communication. Its network bridges the physical and digital worlds, and audiences can change from cloud to artificial intelligence (AI).

In data communication networks (DCN), Huawei has introduced many new technologies into the solutions. “For example, in the education sector – schools and universities – we want to leverage our AR technology into classrooms to enhance interactions between teachers and students,” said Han. “To support the actualisation of digital superhighway in Kenya, Huawei is geared to provide high speed internet and secure networks.”

Digital technologies will contribute to the national strategic goals in Kenya and improve livelihoods of citizens. The Government of Kenya has identified ICT as a key enabler of economic transformation, and the digital superhighway is one of the five areas listed for macro-economic growth transformation agenda, said Loyford Murithi, ICT Director at the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy.

Murithi affirmed the government’s committed to partnerships with industry players like Huawei in its quest to expand connectivity, improve the digital skills of the youth, and automate key sectors such as manufacturing, finance, health, and education. “We believe that the roll-out of the digital superhighway will stimulate growth, socio-economic development, jobs creation, and enterprise development,” he said, adding that the ministry had rolled out an elaborate strategy of achieving 125,000 Wifi spots, 100,000km of fibre optic cable, and 1,450 digital hubs across the country.

The private sector has continued to play a very pivotal role in the development of ICT in the areas of innovation, research, and development. Also, the private sector has not been left behind in building and maintaining infrastructure, which has expanded the access to ICT services and opened connectivity to undeserved areas, he shared. Private sector firms have continued to foster efficiency and have cut down costs, making ICT services and products more accessible to consumers.

Through job creation and employment, the private sector has contributed to the overall prosperity, whereas the globalisation of ICT firms has helped the Kenyan government to introduce technology at a very low price, facilitating the transformation of economies and societies.

Effective collaboration between the private and public sectors is essential for harnessing the full potential of technology for society benefits, Murithi said, noting: “As a ministry, we appreciate Huawei for being one of our lead partners in developing solutions that have placed the country in the global arena. We work closely with local partners and businesses, including technology firms.”

Huawei has contributed to the advancement of the ICT infrastructure in Kenya, especially the 5G network in the telecommunications sector. The presence of Huawei in the sector has fostered competition, especially in the area of cost-effective solutions. “As a ministry, we continue to enjoy technological solutions from Huawei,” Murithi stated. “Huawei has brought into the market, cutting-edge technologies and innovative products to businesses in health, agriculture, education, and environment, creating an impact on the society and new opportunities for growth.”

Huawei OptiX Club will give ICT practitioners capacity for professional development to acquire skills that are sought-after in the market.

Chief Expert of Data Communication and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Algorithms at Huawei Zhang Liang, said that the deployment of AI-enabled networking solutions was expected to inject vitality into Kenya’s digital economy. “The launch of advanced internet protocols will improve the network’s speed, stability, and security, enabling businesses and state agencies to scale up and sustain online transactions,” Zhang said.

Huawei has ensured that the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) enjoys seamless connectivity across all of its platforms in a cost-effective manner. This is according to Martin Mirero, the Director of ICT at CA. The Authority regulates the ICT industry in Kenya, and is focused on building a sustainable digital society.

Mirero explained that CA also makes use of silo networks, some with different capabilities, and lots of applications such as CCTV, to identify what is happening and the health of their technology, and what are the trouble hotspots.

Huawei solutions assists CA to not only operate and manage the network, but also ensures visibility that enables them to plan for their network connectivity. “We have a very rich finger-print data base, and predictive detection of network issues, which is more proactive in ensuring effective services,” said Mirero.

He explained that the solution ensures ease of use and management, making it more seamless, intelligent and efficient. In future, he added, CA will embrace the additional capabilities of this campus network “as we look to roll out nationally and take advantage of a data management centre”.

Matamela Mashau, the Chief Technology Officer of Enterprise Networks Solutions Sales at Huawei, explained that Huawei’s data centre network (DCN) solutions always originated from customers and were born from continuous joint interventions. “We have collaborated with our customers – over 2900, spread across 110 countries globally – to provide innovations that offer solutions for data center management,” said Mashau.

Between 2017 and 2022, Huawei has upgraded its DCN solutions from CloudEngine 16800 and CloudEngine 16800-x. Automated DCs help enterprises resolve a number of issues.

First is to ensure business survival. “If all data is lost, service systems are interrupted. In this case, 60 percent of enterprises will be at risk of bankruptcy. Data loss will also cause financial loss to enterprises,” Mashau said. DCs ensure regulatory compliance without which service interruption will incur huge penalties, he explained. For instance, in 2021, a P1S1 incident at a bank in the US led to a two-day interruption of key services, resulting in a $93 million fine from the Monetary Authority.

Automated DCs also ensure banks respond to natural disasters and black swan events that bring risks. For instance, in 2022, a fire occurred in the data centre of a company in South Korea. The fire was extinguished some eight hours later, during which network service of mainstream apps was interrupted.

The essence of data recovery is service redundancy. Huawei offers three different data redundancy solutions for data centres. The cold back up DC ensures that lost or damaged historical data is retrieved. Active/standby DC ensures data hot back-up and service switchover to restore data to the nearest production end. If the primary DC is faulty, the standby DC can take over services.

Active-active DC syncs data in real time and ensures dual read/write for service load sharing. This ensures that services are not affected if a single DC is faulty.