At its 2025 South Africa Partners Forum, themed “Joining Hands with Partners for a Digital, Intelligent Future”, Huawei unveiled a major upgrade to its “Partner + Huawei” collaboration framework.
The refreshed model is designed to build a stronger, more mutually beneficial ecosystem – supporting South African customers across a range of industries as they accelerate their digital and intelligent transformation.
Huawei will collaborate closely with its extensive network of partners, as it looks to seize the vast opportunities available. More than 800 guests from across 300 enterprises attended the event in Johannesburg, highlighting Huawei’s firm ongoing commitment to open collaboration, innovation and long-term investment in the local market.
In his opening speech, Gene Zhang, CEO of Huawei South Africa Enterprise, reaffirmed Huawei’s objectives. “Together, we will continue to develop tailored solutions for South African enterprises, bridge the digital divide through collaborative innovation and build a sustainable ICT talent pipeline. We look forward to learning from your experiences, addressing your challenges and building the solutions of tomorrow together.”
Over the past year, Huawei has recorded strong growth in South Africa’s enterprise market, with a notable increase in partners, customers and overall revenue. In his keynote address, Peter Zhang, vice president of global partner, commercial & distribution in Huawei enterprise sales, said: “Our remarkable success in South Africa’s enterprise market owes much to the unwavering trust and backing from our customers and partners, as evidenced by the notable surge in both transactional partnerships and the number of customers we serve.”
He further emphasised that Huawei remains committed to developing highly marketable products and tailored solutions aligned with industry-specific application scenarios. “We aim to offer more robust benefit protection and incentives for our partners, while jointly serving an extensive base of commercial customers alongside them.”
Huawei has always adhered to the partnership philosophy of “shared benefits as the bridge, integrity as the foundation and rules as the guarantee” in the commercial market. During the event, Frenndy Wang, director of Huawei South Africa’s partner development department, outlined how the company safeguards its partners’ interests by operating with integrity and consistently applying clear processes and standards.
“We aim to become the preferred partner for digital transformation in South Africa and create value for customers together with partners. We will keep strengthening the ‘Partner + Huawei’ ecosystem with shared benefits as the bridge, integrity as the foundation and rules as the guarantee.”
In response to increasingly complex industry landscapes, Huawei is placing greater emphasis on enhancing partner capabilities. Speaking at the forum, Yu Li, director of global partner enablement in Huawei Enterprise’s sales department, explained how the company empowers its partners by staying closely aligned with customer needs, co-developing integrated product and service offerings and deepening solution development expertise. These capabilities, he noted, are essential to delivering end-to-end, high-quality solutions that support customers with their digital and intelligent transformation journeys.
As enterprises accelerate their deployment of AI, upgrading ICT infrastructure has become even more crucial. Leon Xu, director of commercial MKT and the solution sales department at Huawei Enterprise, emphasised that Huawei is working closely with its partners to create innovative scenario-based solutions. “We’re delivering higher-performance network connectivity, more stable and flexible data platforms, and richer industry applications.”
Alvin Korkie, principal business and strategy consultant (enterprise) for sub-Saharan Africa at Huawei, shared insights into green and intelligent warehousing practices, while Hong-Eng Koh, global chief public services industry scientist at Huawei, provided an in-depth analysis of the digital pathways in education and healthcare.
Multiple partners also shared their experiences in collaborating with Huawei. Bridgette Kemp, head of sales infrastructure at Altron, a Diamond reseller of Huawei’s, highlighted the decade-long Huawei/Altron partnership, sharing how it has delivered smart classrooms, hospitals and public systems across South Africa. “We’re not just selling technology –– we’re building South Africa,” Kemp said.
Speaking on the development of innovative, scenario-based solutions, Dhiren Vasram, head of technology at Gijima Holdings (also a Diamond reseller), said: “Innovation happens when great technology meets deep local insight. Our partnership with Huawei is helping us co-create solutions that don’t just meet today’s challenges but shape the future of African industries.”
Customer representative Brent Dreyer, head of department for data centre solutions and services at Woolworths, also shared his insights into Huawei’s role in supporting the retailer’s evolving infrastructure needs.
Huawei continues to play a central role in advancing South Africa’s digital economy, working closely with a broad network of local partners to enable innovation and inclusive growth. By fostering open collaboration and shared success, Huawei remains committed to building a more connected, intelligent future for South Africa and the wider region.
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