Johannesburg, South Africa – The MTN Group has opened a research lab with Huawei Technologies in Johannesburg.
The partnership points to deepening ties with the Chinese company and potentially accelerating the rollout of new technologies on the continent
The facility will focus on applications for artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing, fintech and other technologies,
“Before we start deploying the new tech in one of our markets, we are able to test the efficiency and value of it in our own lab,” MTN’s chief technology and innovation officer Mazen Mroue said in an interview.
“Usually the tests would be done in a vendor’s lab, and you will have to go with their outcome – but with our latest initiative, we can test all technologies ourselves, with whichever vendors, European or non-European.”
Africa has a young, fast-growing and tech-savvy population that relies on mobile phones for access to everything from banking to health care.
It’s also been slower to roll out some of the newest technologies, such as 5G capabilities and artificial intelligence applications, due to the costly nature of building out these networks, and the shortage of software developers working on the continent.
South Africa has been facing “tremendous pressure” from the US to stop using Huawei’s network. The country says it won’t succumb to international pressure to stop using Huawei’s equipment in its technologies.
China is the African nation’s largest trading partner.
Huawei, which has become a central focus in the US’s ongoing trade war with China, has been banned from providing equipment for networks, particularly more advanced 5G equipment, in the US, while some European countries have taken steps to strip the technology from their networks.
