Huawei spent US$283 million on local purchases in the East and Southern Africa region in 2012, creating thousands of work opportunities.
Speaking during Huawei’s Partners Convention in Johannesburg, director of procurement David Zhang said almost US$100 million was spent in South Africa on local companies and black economic empowerment (BEE) credit companies.
Zhang said the company would continue with its localisation strategy that has seen more than 90 per cent of total suppliers coming from the local countries.
“As a global ICT leader with local presence, Huawei supports Africa’s ICT industry development by working with both local engineering and administrative suppliers. Huawei has operated in the region for over 15 years now, and based on our localisation strategy, of our total 2,394 suppliers – 97.2% are local,” said Zhang.
Huawei is meeting with its partners to discuss market milestones with policy issues on procurement and ways of deeper coordination.
The convention brings together senior management teams, technical teams and project management departments.
Huawei says it will be spending more in the coming years especially with more opportunities on the continent as it tries to bridge the digital divide.
The company adds that it will continue partnerships with local suppliers for business continuity.
