As part of  infrastructure building, one of  the leading  Global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provides, Huawei  and Mobile Service Provider in the Middle East and Africa, Etisalat yesterday at the ongoing GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, signed strategic partnership  on IT outsourcing to boost services in Africa.

This agreement witnesses the first IT outsourcing program that would be implemented in Africa Region.

In addition to this, the strategic agreement would lead  to the transformation of the Telecommunications industry in Africa.

Under the arrangement, Huawei will be responsible for the operational management of Etisalat Nigeria’s IT services across Technical Infrastructure, Application Management and User Support. However, the Business Planning, Architecture and Governance shall still be retained by Etisalat Nigeria.

The  Acting Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher, shortly after signing the agreement told Journalists that  the decision to outsource aspects of the company’s IT function followed the adoption of a new model which was effectively aligned with the corporate vision of creating more value for customers by improving quality, reducing costs, embedding innovation, and increasing the speed of delivery.

“There will be radical changes with the signing of this agreement. There will be improved quality of service. There will more in mobile health,, education, mobile money among others”, Willsher assured.

For Mr. Pang Jimin, the Managing Director of Huawei Nigeria, the agreement will further deepen the relationship between the two companies in term capacity build.

According to him,  service is the future, and thus the IT outsourcing program deeply matches Huawei’s service strategy.

Being the strategic partner with Etisalat, Huawei will contribute to Etisalat’s business success with professional service capabilities, he added.