Huawei

About Huawei in South Africa

Huawei is a global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices. In South Africa it supports network operators and business customers from its offices in Woodmead, Johannesburg. In 2008, the company also opened a training centre in the same suburb, which has trained thousands of local engineers and staff.

Skills are a long-term focus for the local team. Huawei works with universities, government and industry to build a pipeline of ICT talent. As a result, students can reach the company through more than one route. Telecoms networks, cloud services and smart devices all need trained people, and universities cannot always supply every skill without industry help.

How Huawei supports students

One route is the external bursary programme. Huawei has funded students at several universities, including UCT, Wits, the University of Pretoria, UKZN and UWC. These awards have gone to students in information technology and in electrical and mechanical engineering. They have covered tuition, accommodation and living costs, and Huawei has also given postgraduate ICT bursaries at some campuses. Huawei has also helped launch an authorised network academy and brought its course content into university curricula.

The second route is the Seeds for the Future programme. It has run in South Africa since 2016 in partnership with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. Rather than paying tuition, it offers training and cultural exchange. In 2024, fifteen students were chosen, and the company aims for half of the places to go to women. The group spent a week of pre-training at the Johannesburg campus, then travelled to Shenzhen in China for training in 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. More than 100 South African students have taken part since the start. Alumni also stay in touch through networking activities, which can help later in a job search.

What to know before applying

For Seeds for the Future, applicants are top university students majoring in computer science, electronic science, IT, software or engineering. One report mentions a minimum average of 70%. In 2024, applicants emailed their documents by 31 July, created a LinkedIn profile and supplied verified academic records. However, the timeline changes each year, so check the official announcement before you prepare. Prepare your academic records and a LinkedIn profile early, since both have been part of past applications.

Bursary rules, amounts and closing dates are not published in one place. Therefore, speak to your university's financial aid or ICT faculty office, and watch Huawei South Africa's official channels. Work-back terms are not confirmed in public sources, so read any agreement carefully before you accept it.