Nigerian university students have made the country proud by winning top awards at the 2025 Huawei Global ICT Competition. Teams from three Nigerian universities—Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMinna), University of Ibadan, and Ahmadu Bello University—earned major prizes at the global event held in Shenzhen, China.
Two teams from FUTMinna won grand prizes in both the Computing and Network Technology tracks. One of them also received the overall grand prize, marking a major victory for Nigeria in the global tech competition.
Meanwhile, a team from the University of Ibadan claimed first prize in the Cloud Technology category. Another group from Ahmadu Bello University also took first prize in the AI Innovation contest.
Huawei confirmed that two out of four grand prize-winning teams were from Nigeria—Nigeria Cloud Team 2 and Nigeria Computing Team. Nigeria also had three teams among the six that won first prize, alongside teams from Kenya and Uganda. These included Nigeria Network Team 1, Nigeria Network Team 2, and Nigeria Cloud Team 1.
The global final took place from May 20 to May 23, 2025, and the award ceremony followed on May 24 in Shenzhen. The event featured 179 teams from 48 countries, selected from earlier national and regional rounds.
African Teams Shine at the Global Final
Other African countries, including Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, also performed well. Teams from Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, and Tanzania earned grand prizes in the Practice, Innovation, and Programming categories.
A team from Morocco’s Moulay Ismail University won a grand prize, while FUTMinna and a combined Tanzanian team from Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, and University of Dodoma won grand prizes in the Network Track.
In the Cloud Track, Algeria’s Higher National School of Computer Science took home a grand prize. FUTMinna and two Algerian universities also won in the Computing Track.
Huawei also gave special awards to African teams. The Women in Tech Award went to Uganda Network Team 2 and Kenya Cloud Team 2, both made up of female students. The Green Development Award went to a team from the University of Ghana. Ghana and Kenya also received special recognition for outstanding contributions beyond technology.
Huawei praised top teachers who helped students succeed. Instructors from Nigeria, Algeria, and Egypt received the Most Valuable Instructor Award for their dedication to ICT education.
About the Huawei Global ICT Competition
Huawei launched the ICT Competition in 2015 to improve students’ tech skills worldwide. The 2025 edition marked the 9th year of the event. This year, over 210,000 students and teachers from more than 2,000 schools in 100 countries took part.
Huawei started the ICT Academy in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016. Today, it has 478 academies in the region—more than any other region outside China. Since then, over 24,000 African students have joined the competition. More than 100,000 students and 1,500 teachers have joined the Huawei ICT Academy across the continent.
During the final ceremony, Ritchie Peng, Huawei’s Director of ICT Strategy, explained the company’s vision. He said Huawei aims to help students learn through competition and build real-world solutions in fields like agriculture, healthcare, and education.
Huawei also introduced a new AI-powered tool for its ICT Academy platform, making it easier for students and teachers to use.
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