Digital tech delivers global benefits

Featuring case studies from Thailand, Bangladesh, Ireland, and elsewhere, Huawei’s thought leadership magazine, Transform, shows you how technology is changing nearly every field, from finance to healthcare to SME innovation.

Published regularly throughout the year, Transform is a platform for conversations about how digital technology is re-shaping the present, while giving readers a glimpse of the future.

Here are some of the stories from recent editions:

From check-out clerk to CEO

Doreen Mbhalati-Mashele graduated from university with a dual degree in math and science but couldn’t find work in her native South Africa.

“People laughed at me,” she recalls. “They said, ‘Look at that girl. Why didn’t she become a teacher or a nurse?”

Doreen lived in a rural area with no internet connectivity to aid in her search for employment. But her incredible persistence landed her a job installing fiber to local homes – even though she had never done it before.

Today, she runs a company with 500 employees. Read Doreen’s story here.

In Thailand, cloud power brings new customers

Millennials make up a large proportion of Thailand’s consumer demographic – good news for the country’s banks, which have a chance to woo life-long customers.

But Thai millennials switch banks frequently, particularly if they feel they can get a superior digital experience elsewhere, according to research by McKinsey.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) knew it had to keep up with changing consumer preferences. By incorporating technology into its offering, SCB boosted transaction volume by 58% while attracting 45,000 new borrowers to its digital platforms.

Get the details of SCB’s digital transformation here.

A cash app for the cash-strapped

For most people, getting cash from an ATM is fairly easy. And you’d think it would be especially easy in Nigeria, a country of 213 million people, more than half of whom have a bank debit card.

But Nigeria has relatively few ATMs, especially in rural areas. And during the Covid pandemic, many banks shut down, making cash withdrawals difficult or even impossible.

In response, Huawei worked with fets, Nigeria’s top supplier of mobile money services, developing a solution tailored to the needs of that market. It allowed people to get cash not only from machines, but also from agents in designated shops that charged a fee for the service.

Read more about this innovative partnership here.

More than 50m people in Bangladesh use bKash to manage their financial lives

About half of all Bangladeshis lack bank accounts. Part of the reason is that more than 70% live in rural areas, where banks don’t provide services.

Most unbanked people can’t cannot obtain credit, make digital payments or deposits, or start a savings account. As a result, many can’t pay their bills on time.

Enter bKash, a mobile telecom operator that has partnered with more than a dozen banks and international remittance companies to give people access to the financial services they need.

bKash's bright pink sign is hard to miss. More than a decade after its launch, bKash has accumulated more than 50 million registered users.

In the future, bKash aims to provide financial services for low-income areas all over the country.

To find out more, read the article here.

From cyber security to intellectual property to women in leadership, Transform covers a host of topics relevant to business and technology. Click here to get access to our complete library.