Smart Zambia and Huawei sign a national AI data centre deal

LUSAKA — Smart Zambia and Huawei have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is the centrepiece of the government's push to position Zambia as a regional AI hub.

The agreement, announced at the 2026 Zambia Mobile Congress in Lusaka on Tuesday, commits the two parties to co-invest in a national AI data centre, deploy AI-powered services across all 25 government ministries, and train 5,000 Zambian ICT professionals by 2028 through Huawei's global academy. Vice President Mutale Nalumango officiated, reiterating government's commitment to positioning the country as an active player in the global digital economy.

The MoU sits inside the wider Digital Zambia Acceleration Programme, which the government launched at the same Congress. That programme commits to installing 2,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable, connecting 500 government institutions and issuing four million digital identities. Together, the two announcements form the largest single statement of digital infrastructure ambition since the Smart Zambia Institute was created.

The deal builds on existing Huawei engagement in Zambia. The vendor's prior work included the China Eximbank-financed Smart Zambia National ICT Development Project, and a separate Huawei-backed data centre near completion was reported earlier this year. The new MoU formalises co-investment in a national AI data centre — the first such commitment at this scale.

Kwacha News has tracked the Zambian digital story across the past month in coverage of the enterprise-AI surge reaching Zambian SMEs, the MTN Zambia–Starlink direct-to-cell fintech rollout, and the HEA call for responsible AI adoption in tertiary education.

Background

Zambia's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2025–2027), published by the Ministry of Technology and Science, sets a target of using AI to lift national GDP by close to 8% by 2030. The strategy commits to deploying pilot projects in agriculture, education and health, and to standing up an AI Centre of Excellence at the University of Zambia in partnership with Google and the ZAMREN academic network. The Huawei MoU is the first major industrial-scale partnership announced under that framework.

The economic ambition is large. Government has framed Zambia's growth path as reaching a $60 billion economy by 2031, powered in significant part by technology and AI — the theme of the 2026 ICTAZ Tech Conference at which President Hakainde Hichilema was earlier conferred as ICTAZ Patron. The Mobile Congress announcement is the first concrete commitment of capital to that theme; the figures are now public, the timetable runs to 2028, and the political backing — Vice President officiating, Smart Zambia Institute fronting — is at the top of government.

Huawei's involvement is also a strategic choice with geopolitical dimensions. The US has placed Huawei on its Entity List, and a number of African countries that operate alongside US development finance have nonetheless deepened Huawei partnerships. Zambia's position is to take the technology partnership while maintaining its bilateral programmes with US and European partners. The framing the government has used — "Zambia targets digital hub status" — is platform-agnostic in its public language, but the operational reality is Huawei cloud and AI infrastructure inside the Zambian government stack.

Huawei's cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure will be integrated within Zambia's government digital ecosystem to accelerate the deployment of AI-powered services across all 25 government ministries.

— Smart Zambia Institute, <a href="https://www.szi.gov.zm/">MoU announcement, 27 May 2026</a>

What to watch

The first test is execution speed. National AI data centres typically take 18 to 36 months from MoU to live workloads, and Zambia's power-supply reliability — particularly the ZESCO grid baseline during the dry-season window — will be a key constraint. The $75 million Huawei-backed facility already near launch is a useful precedent: it tells observers what speed is realistic and what power-and-cooling parameters Zambia can support today.

The second test is the AI-services rollout across the 25 ministries. Analysis from the Ministry of Technology and Science strategy launch demonstrates that the bottleneck for African public-sector AI is rarely the model layer — it is data quality, integration pipes and the change-management programme inside ministries. Data from comparable rollouts in Rwanda and Kenya shows the realistic first 12 months produce two or three high-visibility services rather than 25 simultaneous deployments.

Third, the ICT-workforce target. Five thousand trained professionals by 2028 — through the Huawei academy — is a step change from current pipeline volumes. Watch the early enrolment numbers, the certification mix, and the cross-flow into private-sector AI roles at MTN, Airtel, Standard Bank Zambia, ZNCB and the fintech ecosystem. The supply-side data point that matters is how many of those 5,000 stay in Zambia versus emigrating.

This story is part of Kwacha News's continuing technology coverage of Zambia's digital infrastructure build-out and the AI agenda.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions readers have been asking since the Mobile Congress announcement. Short answers follow, drawn from the Smart Zambia Institute MoU release, the Ministry of Technology and Science strategy documents and Huawei's public statements.

What is the Smart Zambia–Huawei MoU?

In short, the MoU is a strategic partnership between the Smart Zambia Institute (the government's e-government unit) and Huawei to deploy a national AI data centre and AI-powered services across the public sector. The answer, simply put, is that the deal couples Huawei's cloud and AI stack with Zambia's ministry-level digital transformation. The key is that the co-investment commits both sides to capital, not just to memoranda.

How many ministries are involved?

Research from the announcement reveals all 25 government ministries are in scope for the AI-services rollout. Data from comparable Smart Zambia projects shows the implementation will be phased, with priority sectors — agriculture, education, health, revenue authority — likely to go first. The answer is that the headline target is full coverage, while the realistic first 12 to 18 months will focus on three to five flagship services.

How is the 5,000 ICT-professional target structured?

According to the Smart Zambia announcement, the training pipeline runs through Huawei's global academy programme through to 2028. Evidence from similar Huawei programmes elsewhere in Africa demonstrates the certification stack typically includes cloud, networking, AI and cybersecurity tracks. The answer is that the target is a four-year ramp covering the full Huawei certification ladder, not a one-off bootcamp cohort.

Why is this important for Zambia's digital economy?

Analysis of Zambia's digital-economy trajectory shows the National AI Strategy projects GDP uplift of close to 8% by 2030 if AI adoption scales. Data from the Ministry of Technology and Science reveals connectivity and digital-identity gaps as the two largest implementation constraints. The answer is that the Mobile Congress announcements address both constraints in a single coordinated programme.

What are the geopolitical considerations?

In other words, partnering with Huawei carries trade-off signals. The US Entity-List designation means certain US technology stacks may not interoperate cleanly with Huawei cloud, and the Zambian government will need to manage its parallel US and European development relationships. The key is that Zambia has chosen platform-agnostic public framing while accepting Huawei as the operational partner for the AI data centre.

How can Zambian businesses plug into the programme?

The most reliable channels are the Smart Zambia Institute partnership office, the Ministry of Technology and Science procurement frameworks, and the Huawei partner programme. Research from ZICTA shows the regulator continues to run the ICT Innovation Programme for youth entrepreneurs, which can feed into the wider AI-services build. In other words, watch SZI partner notices, MoTS tenders and Huawei partner calls — those three channels, together, cover the access points.

Sources

Smart Zambia Institute: SZI homepage and MoU release. Ministry of Technology and Science: National AI Strategy launch and strategy document (2025–2027 PDF). ZICTA: ICT Innovation Programme overview. Huawei: Smart Zambia case study. Data Center Dynamics: Huawei's $75M Zambian data centre readies for launch.