Huawei has a clear business strategy for Africa, and that is to make sure everyone on the continent is connected to the Internet.
This is the word from Joy Tan, president of corporate communications at Huawei, who made the comments during a media presentation at the Huawei Analyst Summit 2016 in Shenzhen, China.
Tan explained there are still over four billion people not connected to the Internet, and many are in Africa as well as other developing economies.
Huawei's vision is to build a better connected world, so connecting people on the continent is definitely one of the company's priorities, said Tan.
"For the next several years, we will continue to focus on connecting people in the African region," she stated.
According to Huawei's 2015 highlights, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region makes up 32% of the company's business, with 27% year-on-year growth.
This makes the EMEA region the second largest contributor after the China market (42%). The Americas and Asia-Pacific regions contribute 10% and 13% respectively to the Huawei business.
However, Tan would not reveal how much of the 32% is from the African continent; instead she noted the company does not provide a breakdown of how each country in a specific region contributes to the business.
Huawei will continue to bring all of its businesses to the African market, she stated.
With a population of more than 1.2 billion on the continent, the number of Africans connected to the Internet as of November 2015 was recorded at just over 330 million, according to Internet World Stats.
The International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) ICT facts and figures report says 20.7% of individuals on the African continent are connected to the Internet and only 10.7% of households have access.
The continent is also the only region where mobile broadband penetration remains below 20%, according to the ITU.
In Africa, one in five people use the Internet compared to almost two in five people in Asia-Pacific, and three in five people in the Commonwealth of Independent States, said the ITU.
In terms of the ITU report, 3.2 billion people globally were using the Internet by the end of 2015.
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