Huawei launches first smart village in Zambia, providing internet, electricity, education and healthcare services

Huawei unveiled Zambia's first smart village site in Muzila Village, Nambala District, Southern Province, Zambia. President Hakainde Hichilema attended the unveiling ceremony and delivered a speech. Senior government officials including the Minister of Science and Technology, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Information and Media, the Minister of Green Economy and Environment, and the Minister of Energy also attended the unveiling event.

The Muzila Smart Village site includes a micro solar power station that can power a local school, a clinic, and surrounding teachers' homes and families. It also includes a communication tower in the village that uses Huawei's Rural-Star technology solution to provide mobile and Internet connection services for the village. In addition, the school classrooms are equipped with Huawei IdeaHub and smart blackboards to enable remote education.

              President Hakainde Hichilema of the Republic of Zambia visits the microgrid solar power station

At the unveiling ceremony, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema first visited the smart village site. In his speech, he praised Huawei's implementation of the smart village project and encouraged continued cooperation with the Zambian government to achieve more goals that benefit the country's people. He said that the project aims to replicate the Muzila smart village in other parts of the country, and he is happy to see that 100 villages will become the same smart villages, which will further improve the lives of rural people. At the same time, this project will also alleviate the power challenges faced this year.

                                              Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema delivers a speech

Wang Sheng, Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, expressed appreciation for the milestone of the cooperation between the Zambian government and Huawei. He said that China and Zambia are both developing countries and agricultural pillar countries with similar historical development trajectories. Rural development has always been the basis for the safety of the people of the two countries and the key to governance, and is the most concerned issue for the heads of state and government of the two countries. The Smart Village Project is in line with Zambia's national information and communication strategy and is another manifestation of the high-quality development of China-Zambia cooperation. It will promote mobile and Internet interconnection, remote education and medical care in Zambia, especially through the construction of solar power stations to achieve electricity coverage in remote rural areas. Today's donation is only a sample point of the 100 Village Project. After the pilot is successful in the future, it will be promoted nationwide. In September this year, the new China-Africa Cooperation Forum Summit will be held in Beijing, and Chinese and African leaders will meet again to discuss deepening the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides under the framework of the forum. It is expected that China and Zambia will implement more cooperation projects that benefit the people's livelihood, high technology and future-oriented, and promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries to bear more fruitful results.

      Speech by Mr. Wang Sheng, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Zambia

Li Fei, Vice President of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa, explained the significance of the smart village project at the unveiling ceremony. He said that connectivity is the driving force that drives people towards a better future, and achieving interconnection and digital transformation is crucial. The implementation of the Muzila smart village has achieved access to the Internet, electricity, education and medical care. It is hoped that in the future, all villages in Zambia will be able to achieve smart "village-to-village connectivity".

He thanked the Zambian government and president for their continued support for Huawei. He said that the Muzila Smart Village is just the starting point, not the end. In the future, Huawei will replicate the Muzila Smart Village model and promote it to 100 villages in Zambia. Huawei hopes to work with the Zambian government to accelerate Zambia's interconnection and digitalization process.

                                               Li Fei, Vice President of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa, speaks

After the unveiling ceremony, witnessed by the President of Zambia, Huawei and the Zambian government signed a memorandum of understanding on the "100 Smart Villages" project in Zambia, laying the strategic cooperation direction for the further construction of more smart villages in Zambia.

Huawei and the Zambian government signed a memorandum of understanding on the "100 Smart Villages" project in Zambia

In September 2023, President Hakainde Hichilema paid a state visit to China, during which he visited Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters. The Zambian government and Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening digital partnership, emphasizing that Huawei and the Zambian government should collaborate at all levels to accelerate Zambia's digital transformation and achieve an inclusive and sustainable digital Zambia.