For anyone with 50 minutes to spare and interested to listen to this podcast interview I did... Eric and Cobus do go for the fairly tough questions. https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcast-china-africa-huawei-adam-lane/ [AUDIO] Like it or Not, Huawei is the Indispensable Tech Company in Africa [EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States government announced that it would blacklist Huawei and blocked the company from using Google's Android operating system and other apps.] It is hard to overstate Huawei's singular importance in the development of Africa's information technology sector. Over the past ten years the company, often armed with state-backed loans from China, has built significant portions of Africa's IT infrastructure, everything from networking to broadband connectivity to new cloud data centers in places like Egypt and South Africa. 70% of all 4G networks across the continent were reportedly built by Huawei. But while Huawei's presence in Africa is pervasive it's also controversial. Allegations that Huawei was involved in Chinese spying efforts against the African Union prompt similar questions like those being raised by the United States who challenge the company's independence from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. "The U.S. is going to have to be strategic about how they approach this challenge. You can't just blunder in and say, 'It's us or them.' China does provide things that the continent needs." - Joshua Meservey, Heritage Foundation senior analyst<https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> Although African stakeholders contend that security and privacy concerns surrounding Huawei are important, most do not believe they are paramount issues. Instead, access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is much more important. But now that the United States is closing in on the company, blocking Huawei from using the Android operating system, African telecom operators are likely starting to worry about what happens if Washington similarly blacklists Huawei's use of components that are used in all that networking gear now running their phone and data networks. If Huawei is forced out of those markets, it could be cataclysmic for African telcos who would find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to American, Korean or European vendors. The bottom line is that African telecommunications operators now rely on Huawei gear, making the Chinese company truly indispensable in the operation of their networks. Huawei, like almost every Chinese company, is notoriously averse to interacting with the media and rarely grants extended, on the record interviews with no pre-conditions. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Adam Lane, senior public affairs director for Huawei Kenya, offered to appear on the podcast. He joins Eric & Cobus for a wide-ranging discussion on all aspects of the company's operations in Africa and what the mood is like inside the firm. Show Notes: * IT Web Africa: Safaricom describes Huawei issue as 'worrying'<http://www.itwebafrica.com/kenya/245917-safaricom-describes-huawei-issue-as-worrying> by Vincent Matinde * Daily Nation: What Huawei restriction means for Kenya and Africa<https://www.nation.co.ke/news/What-Huawei-restriction-means-for-Kenya-/1056-5124102-4g7e18z/> by Aggrey Mutambo * Business Insider South Africa: If you own a Huawei phone in South Africa, here is everything you need to know about the Google crisis<https://www.businessinsider.co.za/huawei-news-in-south-africa-what-is-happening-with-my-phone-2019-5> by Phillip de Wet * Foreign Policy: For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet<https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> at All by Amy Mackinnon About Adam Lane:<https://www.africahealthbusiness.com/speakers/adam-lane/> At Huawei since 2014, and based in Nairobi since 2016, Adam is currently responsible for working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders with a focus on the Kenya and East Africa region. Adam helps these groups understand how to use ICT for Development in their strategies, policies and programs; as well as developing partnerships and cross-sector collaboration with various actors in the ICT ecosystem including social enterprises. Adam has a strong focus on digital health in the region and is also actively engaging with those in the Internet of Things space. Previously, Adam was based in Huawei's HQ as a Director for Corporate Sustainable Development responsible for Huawei's global flagship project to bridge the digital divide as well as thought leadership on the digital divide. In 2015 after an extensive research effort around the world, Adam published Huawei's white paper on Digital Enablement summarizing the challenges and solutions to bridging the digital divide (www.huawei.com/minisite/digital-enablement). He then set-up a new digital divide project related to e-health in Kenya building on the findings from this white paper working with a Kenyan social enterprise and helping them scale up their e-health project.
Adam, Planning to listen to the podcast... In the next decade or two, only racism WILL reduce the influence of China in Africa. https://citizentv.co.ke/news/kenha-wants-4-chinese-workers-deported-for-assa... On Sat, May 25, 2019 at 3:41 PM Adam Lane via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
For anyone with 50 minutes to spare and interested to listen to this podcast interview I did… Eric and Cobus do go for the fairly tough questions.
https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcast-china-africa-huawei-adam-lane/ [AUDIO] Like it or Not, Huawei is the Indispensable Tech Company in Africa
*[EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States government announced that it would blacklist Huawei and blocked the company from using Google’s Android operating system and other apps.]*
It is hard to overstate Huawei’s singular importance in the development of Africa’s information technology sector. Over the past ten years the company, often armed with state-backed loans from China, has built significant portions of Africa’s IT infrastructure, everything from networking to broadband connectivity to new cloud data centers in places like Egypt and South Africa. 70% of all 4G networks across the continent were reportedly built by Huawei.
But while Huawei’s presence in Africa is pervasive it’s also controversial. Allegations that Huawei was involved in Chinese spying efforts against the African Union prompt similar questions like those being raised by the United States who challenge the company’s independence from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. “The U.S. is going to have to be strategic about how they approach this challenge. You can’t just blunder in and say, ‘It’s us or them.’ China does provide things that the continent needs.” — Joshua Meservey, Heritage Foundation senior analyst <https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/>
Although African stakeholders contend that security and privacy concerns surrounding Huawei are important, most do not believe they are paramount issues. Instead, access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is much more important.
But now that the United States is closing in on the company, blocking Huawei from using the Android operating system, African telecom operators are likely starting to worry about what happens if Washington similarly blacklists Huawei’s use of components that are used in all that networking gear now running their phone and data networks.
If Huawei is forced out of those markets, it could be cataclysmic for African telcos who would find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to American, Korean or European vendors.
The bottom line is that African telecommunications operators now rely on Huawei gear, making the Chinese company truly indispensable in the operation of their networks.
Huawei, like almost every Chinese company, is notoriously averse to interacting with the media and rarely grants extended, on the record interviews with no pre-conditions. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Adam Lane, senior public affairs director for Huawei Kenya, offered to appear on the podcast. He joins Eric & Cobus for a wide-ranging discussion on all aspects of the company’s operations in Africa and what the mood is like inside the firm.
*Show Notes:*
· *IT Web Africa*: Safaricom describes Huawei issue as ‘worrying’ <http://www.itwebafrica.com/kenya/245917-safaricom-describes-huawei-issue-as-worrying> by Vincent Matinde
· *Daily Nation*: What Huawei restriction means for Kenya and Africa <https://www.nation.co.ke/news/What-Huawei-restriction-means-for-Kenya-/1056-5124102-4g7e18z/> by Aggrey Mutambo
· *Business Insider South Africa*: If you own a Huawei phone in South Africa, here is everything you need to know about the Google crisis <https://www.businessinsider.co.za/huawei-news-in-south-africa-what-is-happening-with-my-phone-2019-5> by Phillip de Wet
· *Foreign Policy*: For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet <https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> at All by Amy Mackinnon
About Adam Lane: <https://www.africahealthbusiness.com/speakers/adam-lane/>
At Huawei since 2014, and based in Nairobi since 2016, Adam is currently responsible for working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders with a focus on the Kenya and East Africa region. Adam helps these groups understand how to use ICT for Development in their strategies, policies and programs; as well as developing partnerships and cross-sector collaboration with various actors in the ICT ecosystem including social enterprises. Adam has a strong focus on digital health in the region and is also actively engaging with those in the Internet of Things space.
Previously, Adam was based in Huawei’s HQ as a Director for Corporate Sustainable Development responsible for Huawei’s global flagship project to bridge the digital divide as well as thought leadership on the digital divide. In 2015 after an extensive research effort around the world, Adam published Huawei’s white paper on Digital Enablement summarizing the challenges and solutions to bridging the digital divide ( www.huawei.com/minisite/digital-enablement). He then set-up a new digital divide project related to e-health in Kenya building on the findings from this white paper working with a Kenyan social enterprise and helping them scale up their e-health project.
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Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Thanks for sharing Adam, and for the candor. Some quick thoughts... 1. It will be interesting to see whether Huawei infrastructure can stay within SLA bounds over time, for critical enterprise applications - once the chip substitution strategy kicks in. There must have been commercially and/or technically material reasons why US chips were preferred by Huawei over substitutes. 2. Can Huawei guarantee infrastructure upgrade-ability (and long-term stability + performance) without proprietary US components? Is there enough time to catch up to years of US R&D? 3. Looks like Chinese tech companies should have teamed up to acquire Red Hat to mitigate their server OS dependency risks (link #1). Now IBM, a US company, owns Redhat. Is IBM immune to the trade war? Hoping there will be no "announcement" from that end. Excerpt: "Red Hat plans to offer solutions backed by technical service for Huawei servers, including Huawei's rack, blade, and high-density servers, as well as the KunLun Mission Critical Servers." 4. How important is Europe market to Huawei's survival? How will it impact the company's future viability / cash flows - and how will that impact Africa, given the heavy dependence? Will loss of Europe revenue impact Huawei's ability to fund the numerous "Plan B" projects that have to be concurrently executed - together with additional forward-looking R&D? 5. How does ARM pullout affect Huawei's "Plan B" for smartphones? Can TSMC (link #3) really fill the gap? How fast and for how long? Excerpt from Wired (link #2): "The open-source version of Android is designed for ARM-based chips. It also works on x86 processors, made by Intel, AMD, and others, but those US-based companies had already cut ties with Huawei as part of the sanctions. Which means, absent ARM, Huawei’s most obvious backup plan effectively goes poof. The company would need not only to redesign its own chips from scratch—a process that takes years—it would find itself cut off from the world’s most popular operating system. This is like telling Coca-Cola that it can’t use carbonated water." Let's hope the trade war does not continue for too long because everyone stands to lose. Paradoxically I'm actually rooting for Huawei to prevail / survive because it could lead to greater levels of diversity and choice within the global tech ecosystem. Also hoping that African decision-makers will use this opportunity to demand "no spy" "no back-doors" agreements (and independent security and quality assurance arrangements) with Huawei as part mitigation for the lock-in risks, pending the development of more robust longer-term dependency mitigation solutions. Have a nice weekend. Links: 1. Huawei Announces Partnership with Redhat (before IBM acquisition) https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2017/4/huawei-oem-agreement-redh... 2. (Opinion) If Huawei Loses ARM's Chip Designs, It's "Toast" https://www.wired.com/story/huawei-loses-arm-chip-design/ 3. TSMC will continue making chips for Huawei https://www.gsmarena.com/tsmc_will_continue_making_chips_for_huawei-news-371... Brgds, Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross-Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] On Saturday, May 25, 2019, 3:45:19 PM GMT+3, Adam Lane via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: For anyone with 50 minutes to spare and interested to listen to this podcast interview I did… Eric and Cobus do go for the fairly tough questions. https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcast-china-africa-huawei-adam-lane/ [AUDIO] Like it or Not, Huawei is the Indispensable Tech Company in Africa [EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States government announced that it would blacklist Huawei and blocked the company from using Google’s Android operating system and other apps.] It is hard to overstate Huawei’s singular importance in the development of Africa’s information technology sector. Over the past ten years the company, often armed with state-backed loans from China, has built significant portions of Africa’s IT infrastructure, everything from networking to broadband connectivity to new cloud data centers in places like Egypt and South Africa. 70% of all 4G networks across the continent were reportedly built by Huawei. But while Huawei’s presence in Africa is pervasive it’s also controversial. Allegations that Huawei was involved in Chinese spying efforts against the African Union prompt similar questions like those being raised by the United States who challenge the company’s independence from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. “The U.S. is going to have to be strategic about how they approach this challenge. You can’t just blunder in and say, ‘It’s us or them.’ China does provide things that the continent needs.” — Joshua Meservey, Heritage Foundation senior analyst Although African stakeholders contend that security and privacy concerns surrounding Huawei are important, most do not believe they are paramount issues. Instead, access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is much more important. But now that the United States is closing in on the company, blocking Huawei from using the Android operating system, African telecom operators are likely starting to worry about what happens if Washington similarly blacklists Huawei’s use of components that are used in all that networking gear now running their phone and data networks. If Huawei is forced out of those markets, it could be cataclysmic for African telcos who would find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to American, Korean or European vendors. The bottom line is that African telecommunications operators now rely on Huawei gear, making the Chinese company truly indispensable in the operation of their networks. Huawei, like almost every Chinese company, is notoriously averse to interacting with the media and rarely grants extended, on the record interviews with no pre-conditions. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Adam Lane, senior public affairs director for Huawei Kenya, offered to appear on the podcast. He joins Eric & Cobus for a wide-ranging discussion on all aspects of the company’s operations in Africa and what the mood is like inside the firm. Show Notes: · IT Web Africa: Safaricom describes Huawei issue as ‘worrying’ by Vincent Matinde · Daily Nation: What Huawei restriction means for Kenya and Africa by Aggrey Mutambo · Business Insider South Africa: If you own a Huawei phone in South Africa, here is everything you need to know about the Google crisis by Phillip de Wet · Foreign Policy: For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet at All by Amy Mackinnon About Adam Lane: At Huawei since 2014, and based in Nairobi since 2016, Adam is currently responsible for working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders with a focus on the Kenya and East Africa region. Adam helps these groups understand how to use ICT for Development in their strategies, policies and programs; as well as developing partnerships and cross-sector collaboration with various actors in the ICT ecosystem including social enterprises. Adam has a strong focus on digital health in the region and is also actively engaging with those in the Internet of Things space. Previously, Adam was based in Huawei’s HQ as a Director for Corporate Sustainable Development responsible for Huawei’s global flagship project to bridge the digital divide as well as thought leadership on the digital divide. In 2015 after an extensive research effort around the world, Adam published Huawei’s white paper on Digital Enablement summarizing the challenges and solutions to bridging the digital divide (www.huawei.com/minisite/digital-enablement). He then set-up a new digital divide project related to e-health in Kenya building on the findings from this white paper working with a Kenyan social enterprise and helping them scale up their e-health project. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Hi Patrick Your questions are good idea ones. At the moment it's still too early to answer most of those questions. A lot is changing on a daily basis and no-one really knows yet how long the current situation will remain or what impacts it may have on others in the industry. As you've rightly pointed out, the whole ecosystem will suffer from arbitrary and wide-ranging restrictions like these. The ARM issue is very complicated and there's no official opinion from us or ARM yet, just very much speculation from many commentators, but in general I believe all existing licenses we have for ARM are fine and suffice for existing chipsets, but it may affect s development of future chipsets. Adam -------------------------------------------------- M: +254-790985886<tel:+254-790985886> Senior Director, Public Affairs Huawei Southern Africa region From:Patrick A. M. Maina <pmaina2000@yahoo.com> To:Adam Lane via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc:Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> Date:2019-05-26 15:07:39 Subject:Re: [kictanet] Huawei interview on China-Africa Podcast Thanks for sharing Adam, and for the candor. Some quick thoughts... 1. It will be interesting to see whether Huawei infrastructure can stay within SLA bounds over time, for critical enterprise applications - once the chip substitution strategy kicks in. There must have been commercially and/or technically material reasons why US chips were preferred by Huawei over substitutes. 2. Can Huawei guarantee infrastructure upgrade-ability (and long-term stability + performance) without proprietary US components? Is there enough time to catch up to years of US R&D? 3. Looks like Chinese tech companies should have teamed up to acquire Red Hat to mitigate their server OS dependency risks (link #1). Now IBM, a US company, owns Redhat. Is IBM immune to the trade war? Hoping there will be no "announcement" from that end. Excerpt: "Red Hat plans to offer solutions backed by technical service for Huawei servers, including Huawei's rack, blade, and high-density servers, as well as the KunLun Mission Critical Servers." 4. How important is Europe market to Huawei's survival? How will it impact the company's future viability / cash flows - and how will that impact Africa, given the heavy dependence? Will loss of Europe revenue impact Huawei's ability to fund the numerous "Plan B" projects that have to be concurrently executed - together with additional forward-looking R&D? 5. How does ARM pullout affect Huawei's "Plan B" for smartphones? Can TSMC (link #3) really fill the gap? How fast and for how long? Excerpt from Wired (link #2): "The open-source version of Android is designed for ARM-based chips. It also works on x86 processors, made by Intel, AMD, and others, but those US-based companies had already cut ties with Huawei as part of the sanctions. Which means, absent ARM, Huawei’s most obvious backup plan effectively goes poof. The company would need not only to redesign its own chips from scratch—a process that takes years—it would find itself cut off from the world’s most popular operating system. This is like telling Coca-Cola that it can’t use carbonated water." Let's hope the trade war does not continue for too long because everyone stands to lose. Paradoxically I'm actually rooting for Huawei to prevail / survive because it could lead to greater levels of diversity and choice within the global tech ecosystem. Also hoping that African decision-makers will use this opportunity to demand "no spy" "no back-doors" agreements (and independent security and quality assurance arrangements) with Huawei as part mitigation for the lock-in risks, pending the development of more robust longer-term dependency mitigation solutions. Have a nice weekend. Links: 1. Huawei Announces Partnership with Redhat (before IBM acquisition) https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2017/4/huawei-oem-agreement-redh... 2. (Opinion) If Huawei Loses ARM's Chip Designs, It's "Toast" https://www.wired.com/story/huawei-loses-arm-chip-design/ 3. TSMC will continue making chips for Huawei https://www.gsmarena.com/tsmc_will_continue_making_chips_for_huawei-news-371... Brgds, Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross-Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] On Saturday, May 25, 2019, 3:45:19 PM GMT+3, Adam Lane via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: For anyone with 50 minutes to spare and interested to listen to this podcast interview I did… Eric and Cobus do go for the fairly tough questions. https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcast-china-africa-huawei-adam-lane/ [AUDIO] Like it or Not, Huawei is the Indispensable Tech Company in Africa [EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States government announced that it would blacklist Huawei and blocked the company from using Google’s Android operating system and other apps.] It is hard to overstate Huawei’s singular importance in the development of Africa’s information technology sector. Over the past ten years the company, often armed with state-backed loans from China, has built significant portions of Africa’s IT infrastructure, everything from networking to broadband connectivity to new cloud data centers in places like Egypt and South Africa. 70% of all 4G networks across the continent were reportedly built by Huawei. But while Huawei’s presence in Africa is pervasive it’s also controversial. Allegations that Huawei was involved in Chinese spying efforts against the African Union prompt similar questions like those being raised by the United States who challenge the company’s independence from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. “The U.S. is going to have to be strategic about how they approach this challenge. You can’t just blunder in and say, ‘It’s us or them.’ China does provide things that the continent needs.” — Joshua Meservey, Heritage Foundation senior analyst<https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> Although African stakeholders contend that security and privacy concerns surrounding Huawei are important, most do not believe they are paramount issues. Instead, access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is much more important. But now that the United States is closing in on the company, blocking Huawei from using the Android operating system, African telecom operators are likely starting to worry about what happens if Washington similarly blacklists Huawei’s use of components that are used in all that networking gear now running their phone and data networks. If Huawei is forced out of those markets, it could be cataclysmic for African telcos who would find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to American, Korean or European vendors. The bottom line is that African telecommunications operators now rely on Huawei gear, making the Chinese company truly indispensable in the operation of their networks. Huawei, like almost every Chinese company, is notoriously averse to interacting with the media and rarely grants extended, on the record interviews with no pre-conditions. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Adam Lane, senior public affairs director for Huawei Kenya, offered to appear on the podcast. He joins Eric & Cobus for a wide-ranging discussion on all aspects of the company’s operations in Africa and what the mood is like inside the firm. Show Notes: • IT Web Africa: Safaricom describes Huawei issue as ‘worrying’<http://www.itwebafrica.com/kenya/245917-safaricom-describes-huawei-issue-as-worrying> by Vincent Matinde • Daily Nation: What Huawei restriction means for Kenya and Africa<https://www.nation.co.ke/news/What-Huawei-restriction-means-for-Kenya-/1056-5124102-4g7e18z/> by Aggrey Mutambo • Business Insider South Africa: If you own a Huawei phone in South Africa, here is everything you need to know about the Google crisis<https://www.businessinsider.co.za/huawei-news-in-south-africa-what-is-happening-with-my-phone-2019-5> by Phillip de Wet • Foreign Policy: For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet<https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> at All by Amy Mackinnon About Adam Lane:<https://www.africahealthbusiness.com/speakers/adam-lane/> At Huawei since 2014, and based in Nairobi since 2016, Adam is currently responsible for working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders with a focus on the Kenya and East Africa region. Adam helps these groups understand how to use ICT for Development in their strategies, policies and programs; as well as developing partnerships and cross-sector collaboration with various actors in the ICT ecosystem including social enterprises. Adam has a strong focus on digital health in the region and is also actively engaging with those in the Internet of Things space. Previously, Adam was based in Huawei’s HQ as a Director for Corporate Sustainable Development responsible for Huawei’s global flagship project to bridge the digital divide as well as thought leadership on the digital divide. In 2015 after an extensive research effort around the world, Adam published Huawei’s white paper on Digital Enablement summarizing the challenges and solutions to bridging the digital divide (www.huawei.com/minisite/digital-enablement). He then set-up a new digital divide project related to e-health in Kenya building on the findings from this white paper working with a Kenyan social enterprise and helping them scale up their e-health project. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Recommended read @ http://time.com/5594366/5g-internet-race-huawei That choice might be easier if one side did not have such a clear commercial advantage. Huawei is around 18 months ahead of rivals in rollout capacity. Its 5G base stations and wireless networking equipment are smaller and more economical to run than 4G, as well as typically 30% cheaper than rivals’. Many countries’ 4G infrastructure is already provided by Huawei, which would allow the firm to upgrade them to 5G more quickly and at lower cost than by using a competitor. And the competition is not exactly robust. No specialist companies in the U.S. are able to roll out 5G, meaning American consumers and businesses will have to rely on Huawei’s foreign competitors, chiefly Sweden’s Ericsson or Finland’s Nokia, if the ban persists. ...The question now is whether the Trump Administration will find a compromise. Chinese firm ZTE almost collapsed last year after similar action to that taken against Huawei. Eventually, President Trump negotiated a $1 billion fine in lieu that allowed ZTE to keep trading. On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 3:08 PM Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Thanks for sharing Adam, and for the candor. Some quick thoughts...
1. It will be interesting to see whether Huawei infrastructure can stay within SLA bounds over time, for critical enterprise applications - once the *chip substitution* strategy kicks in. There must have been commercially and/or technically material reasons why US chips were preferred by Huawei over substitutes.
2. Can Huawei guarantee infrastructure upgrade-ability (and long-term stability + performance) without proprietary US components? Is there enough time to catch up to years of US R&D?
3. Looks like Chinese tech companies should have teamed up to acquire *Red Hat* to mitigate their server OS dependency risks (link #1). Now *IBM*, a US company, owns Redhat. Is IBM immune to the trade war? Hoping there will be no "announcement" from that end.
Excerpt: "Red Hat plans to offer solutions backed by technical service for Huawei servers, including Huawei's rack, blade, and high-density servers, as well as the KunLun Mission Critical Servers."
4. How important is *Europe *market to Huawei's survival? How will it impact the company's future viability / cash flows - and how will that impact Africa, given the heavy dependence? Will loss of Europe revenue impact Huawei's ability to fund the numerous "Plan B" projects that have to be concurrently executed - together with additional forward-looking R&D?
5. How does *ARM *pullout affect Huawei's "Plan B" for smartphones? Can *TSMC* (link #3) really fill the gap? How fast and for how long?
Excerpt from *Wired *(link #2): "The open-source version of Android is designed for ARM-based chips. It also works on x86 processors, made by *Intel*, *AMD*, and others, but those US-based companies had already cut ties with Huawei as part of the sanctions. Which means, absent ARM, Huawei’s most obvious backup plan effectively goes poof. The company would need not only to redesign its own chips from scratch—a process that takes years—it would find itself cut off from the world’s most popular operating system. This is like telling Coca-Cola that it can’t use carbonated water. "
Let's hope the trade war does not continue for too long because everyone stands to lose. Paradoxically I'm actually rooting for Huawei to prevail / survive because it could lead to greater levels of diversity and choice within the global tech ecosystem.
Also hoping that African decision-makers will use this opportunity to demand "no spy" "no back-doors" agreements (and independent security and quality assurance arrangements) with Huawei as part mitigation for the lock-in risks, pending the development of more robust longer-term dependency mitigation solutions.
Have a nice weekend.
Links:
1. Huawei Announces Partnership with Redhat (before IBM acquisition)
https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2017/4/huawei-oem-agreement-redh...
2. (Opinion) If Huawei Loses ARM's Chip Designs, It's "Toast" https://www.wired.com/story/huawei-loses-arm-chip-design/
3. TSMC will continue making chips for Huawei
https://www.gsmarena.com/tsmc_will_continue_making_chips_for_huawei-news-371...
Brgds, Patrick.
Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross-Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]
On Saturday, May 25, 2019, 3:45:19 PM GMT+3, Adam Lane via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
For anyone with 50 minutes to spare and interested to listen to this podcast interview I did… Eric and Cobus do go for the fairly tough questions.
https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcast-china-africa-huawei-adam-lane/ [AUDIO] Like it or Not, Huawei is the Indispensable Tech Company in Africa
*[EDITOR’S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States government announced that it would blacklist Huawei and blocked the company from using Google’s Android operating system and other apps.]*
It is hard to overstate Huawei’s singular importance in the development of Africa’s information technology sector. Over the past ten years the company, often armed with state-backed loans from China, has built significant portions of Africa’s IT infrastructure, everything from networking to broadband connectivity to new cloud data centers in places like Egypt and South Africa. 70% of all 4G networks across the continent were reportedly built by Huawei.
But while Huawei’s presence in Africa is pervasive it’s also controversial. Allegations that Huawei was involved in Chinese spying efforts against the African Union prompt similar questions like those being raised by the United States who challenge the company’s independence from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. “The U.S. is going to have to be strategic about how they approach this challenge. You can’t just blunder in and say, ‘It’s us or them.’ China does provide things that the continent needs.” — Joshua Meservey, Heritage Foundation senior analyst <https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/>
Although African stakeholders contend that security and privacy concerns surrounding Huawei are important, most do not believe they are paramount issues. Instead, access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications infrastructure is much more important.
But now that the United States is closing in on the company, blocking Huawei from using the Android operating system, African telecom operators are likely starting to worry about what happens if Washington similarly blacklists Huawei’s use of components that are used in all that networking gear now running their phone and data networks.
If Huawei is forced out of those markets, it could be cataclysmic for African telcos who would find it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to American, Korean or European vendors.
The bottom line is that African telecommunications operators now rely on Huawei gear, making the Chinese company truly indispensable in the operation of their networks.
Huawei, like almost every Chinese company, is notoriously averse to interacting with the media and rarely grants extended, on the record interviews with no pre-conditions. So, it was a bit of a surprise when Adam Lane, senior public affairs director for Huawei Kenya, offered to appear on the podcast. He joins Eric & Cobus for a wide-ranging discussion on all aspects of the company’s operations in Africa and what the mood is like inside the firm.
*Show Notes:*
· *IT Web Africa*: Safaricom describes Huawei issue as ‘worrying’ <http://www.itwebafrica.com/kenya/245917-safaricom-describes-huawei-issue-as-worrying> by Vincent Matinde
· *Daily Nation*: What Huawei restriction means for Kenya and Africa <https://www.nation.co.ke/news/What-Huawei-restriction-means-for-Kenya-/1056-5124102-4g7e18z/> by Aggrey Mutambo
· *Business Insider South Africa*: If you own a Huawei phone in South Africa, here is everything you need to know about the Google crisis <https://www.businessinsider.co.za/huawei-news-in-south-africa-what-is-happening-with-my-phone-2019-5> by Phillip de Wet
· *Foreign Policy*: For Africa, Chinese-Built Internet Is Better Than No Internet <https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/for-africa-chinese-built-internet-is-better-than-no-internet-at-all/> at All by Amy Mackinnon
About Adam Lane: <https://www.africahealthbusiness.com/speakers/adam-lane/>
At Huawei since 2014, and based in Nairobi since 2016, Adam is currently responsible for working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the media and other stakeholders with a focus on the Kenya and East Africa region. Adam helps these groups understand how to use ICT for Development in their strategies, policies and programs; as well as developing partnerships and cross-sector collaboration with various actors in the ICT ecosystem including social enterprises. Adam has a strong focus on digital health in the region and is also actively engaging with those in the Internet of Things space.
Previously, Adam was based in Huawei’s HQ as a Director for Corporate Sustainable Development responsible for Huawei’s global flagship project to bridge the digital divide as well as thought leadership on the digital divide. In 2015 after an extensive research effort around the world, Adam published Huawei’s white paper on Digital Enablement summarizing the challenges and solutions to bridging the digital divide ( www.huawei.com/minisite/digital-enablement). He then set-up a new digital divide project related to e-health in Kenya building on the findings from this white paper working with a Kenyan social enterprise and helping them scale up their e-health project.
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- SMM *"Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." Prov 16:32*
On Mon, 27 May 2019 at 20:21, S.M. Muraya via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
competitors, chiefly Sweden’s Ericsson or Finland’s Nokia, if the ban persists.
...The question now is whether the Trump Administration will find a compromise. Chinese firm ZTE almost collapsed last year after similar action to that taken against Huawei. Eventually, President Trump negotiated a $1 billion fine in lieu that allowed ZTE to keep trading.
US can extort bribes to any entity regardless of where it is domicile. "If you go ahead of us, you pay rent". This is not any different from how Mungiki and other vigilante groups operate
Dear Listers, There is no "angel" or "villain" in the US-China trade war. Both countries have historically relied on (and continue to rely on) gangster tactics to grow and prosper - and they are not the only ones; Russia, France, Britain, Singapore, Switzerland etc are also gangster nations in different ways and to varying extents - if you understand how global economic crime works.. remember the idea of anarchy in international relations? If you pick sides on normative grounds you'll be fooling yourself because, in reality, you'll be choosing a "favorite gangster". Strategic countries will pick the side that best advances their own interests; that's why Europeans, who readily send their own children to die in America's wars, are hesitating when it comes to Silicon Valley and 5G. America's tech hegemony is very scary because we're now talking about taking control of people's MINDS. Very few people understand this - especially in Africa. Americans are exceptional strategists who make very-long-term global scale plans; for example, in tech sphere, they knew - and zealously protected - their foundational technology and core know-how advantage from "day 1", even as they relocated manufacturing to China - and that is why they can strike Chinese tech companies with such precise - yet highly effective moves. On the other hand, the Chinese, coming from a point of disadvantage that was very similar to where Africa is currently - relied on sheer cunning: effective but unsustainable asymmetric / flanking strategy (e.g. leveraging US corporate greed to play the 3rd world card and gain unbalanced market concessions, focus on cost advantage - and supplementing R&D gaps by stealing IP wherever they can, tolerating inhumane labor conditions - including child labor - and so on). This has worked for China and catapulted it into the global "Number 2". However China did not have a plan for what to do once they reach a global leadership position; the quick-and-easy wins of stealing IP, as well as belief in their competitive advantage as the world's factory, fooled them into adapting their national education and incentives systems on the basis of status quo, rather than parallel development of "first principles" advantage, and though that would have involved "reinventing the wheel", it would have been much smarter - in terms of creating a robust foundation for economic self-reliance. Even their much touted 5G leadership relied on certain assumptions about US tech and consequently has now been thrown into disarray. What really triggered the trade war is the BRI. It signaled a maturing China that wants to transition from underdog tactics to global leadership - a direct threat to the dominant power. The US had been distracted by its numerous tactical wars, to the extent that it forgot to keep tabs on the bigger picture - and, now, in panic, has resorted to big moves to compensate and try swing back China's gains. This could backfire because China has essentially been given a free "audit" of their status and weaknesses - and all they need now is time to compensate. We can expect some short-term global turbulence in the next decade or so, because the incumbent (US) is unlikely to cheerfully relinquish its lucrative unilateral advantage - but the future is unlikely to be uni-polar. CONCLUSIONS:
From an interests perspective, there is too much homogeneity in tech and it needs to be balanced. The world clearly needs geopolitical neutrality in globally pervasive ICTs. That means an open internet, open OS, open core components, open fundamental designs, open formats, open protocols, open architectures and so on. It is clear that core global infrastructure should be owned, managed and developed by multilateral states under treaty arrangements (rather than corporate owned).
The rest of the world has an opportunity to leverage the US-China trade-war as justification for forming what I will term as a "Neutral Basics Tech Consortium", where they pool resources to accelerate the development of universally open core technology alternatives. KEY LESSONS FOR KENYA & AFRICA: The big lesson here is that long-term strategists will reinvent the wheel (or seek to have it jointly owned) if it doesn't belong to them: they think of "plan Bs" far ahead of time, whereas short-term strategists have to bank on certain key assumptions, such as the wheel-owner's greed and focus on the immediate need of assembling and selling the vehicles. The former is costly - but very profitable on the long run, the latter is risky and potentially unsustainable - but yields quicker profits. Both have their time and place. Kenya / Africa can only execute short-term strategies due to resource constraints, but it is smarter to have long-term frameworks that recognize the value and importance of developing indigenous capabilities. Africa should also join global coalitions for Neutral Basics Tech if/when they are established. But that is not to say that Africa should not develop its own proprietary technological advantage; it must, if it wants to prosper. Another thing that comes out clearly, at least to me, is the need for multiple (rather than universal) education systems. You can't predict the future - so you should not have one education system for your entire country. Instead of choosing between CBC (future oriented) and 844 (present-day oriented) - we should consider running both in parallel, improving 844's weaknesses (instead of discarding it completely), giving parents the option to choose what system they want, designing the economy to leverage the advantage of each - and influencing choice at demand side (let opportunities be what influences the education preferences made by parents / learners). We must understand, positively (as opposed to normatively), that the purpose of formal schooling is to create human tools / robots - to work in established factories / institutions. Formal schooling suppresses imagination and creativity by design and out of necessity. If you want people who can create a new world, you should train them outside the formal system - where they can develop curiosity-driven (rather than curriculum-driven) knowledge. Formal schooling graduates are not trained to create jobs - they are trained to work in jobs that already exist. This is important if we want to understand unemployment in Kenya / Africa. Let us not under-estimate the incredible value of home-schooling and informal learning. Gifted children do not fit well within mass programs (in fact they are suppressed and alienated) - so there needs to be a non-stigmatized path that they can take in order to thrive. Homeschooling is one such path. In fact, the people who had the greatest impact the modern world were home schooled (or drop-outs). Think Alexander Graham Bell (Telephone), Wright Brothers (Airplane), Thomas Edison (Phonograph), Peter Cooper (Skyscrapers / Train), Guglielmo Marconi (Radio), SEVENTEEN US presidents (including well known names like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franlkin & Theodore Roosevelt). Kenya has a good number of intelligent parents who would rather (and have the time + ability to) home-school their children, or form home-schooling coalitions within neighborhoods. What is needed to make this work best for the children is a system of supervision (homeschooling regulations) to ensure homeschooling is not used as an excuse for child neglect or child abuse (there needs to be some evidence of pedagogical philosophy - even if its not formal). If we want to prosper as a nation / continent, we must open up our minds and embrace the idea of parallel education systems. We need to get our act together as a country / continent and focus on leveraging ability and talent instead of placing total reliance on signaling heuristics (e.g. certificates - which only signal ability to pass exams - not ability to actually do a job well or to innovate). If you doubt my argument, consider the present day chaos and incompetence in African governments - yet they are full of impressive PhDs, MBAs, MAs and Mscs. By relying on "factory-system grading" as key indicators of competence, Africa's public-sector has missed out on the advantage of leveraging real talent which is the key to genuine progress and prosperity. We need to develop better ways of identifying and developing talent. Good day,Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] On Monday, May 27, 2019, 9:25:59 PM GMT+3, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: On Mon, 27 May 2019 at 20:21, S.M. Muraya via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: competitors, chiefly Sweden’s Ericsson or Finland’s Nokia, if the ban persists. ...The question now is whether the Trump Administration will find a compromise. Chinese firm ZTE almost collapsed last year after similar action to that taken against Huawei. Eventually, President Trump negotiated a $1 billion fine in lieu that allowed ZTE to keep trading. US can extort bribes to any entity regardless of where it is domicile. "If you go ahead of us, you pay rent". This is not any different from how Mungiki and other vigilante groups operate_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
Greetings! Thank you for your email. Unfortunately i am on email sporadically this week as i will be in offsite business meetings. Please expect a delayed response. Thanks and Regards Mercy Ndegwa Head of Public Policy, East Africa | Facebook
participants (5)
-
Adam Lane -
Mercy Ndegwa -
Mwendwa Kivuva -
Patrick A. M. Maina -
S.M. Muraya