Very few Chinese companies have been able to generate the kind of goodwill that Chinese telecom giant Huawei enjoys in Kenya and it’s not by chance. When it comes to local employment, the company spans a whole value chain from suppliers, technicians, charitable partners, educators, and academics that creates and supports direct and indirect employment in Kenya. While its size, global experience, and the scope of its operations and economic resources offer it a great opportunity to impact employment on a large scale, the fact that it has generally managed to avoid the kinds of controversies associated with other Chinese companies and their labor practices is laudable.

I attribute the goodwill to the high level of professionalism and adoption of local and globally accepted practices. The company utilizes professional human resource guidelines to conduct open recruitment and maintain a professional working relationship with its staff that greatly reduces the kinds of labor disputes that are common at many other Chinese-run companies in Africa. More importantly, the fact that Huawei integrates local talent within its managerial ranks also helps to ensure minimal cultural and nationalist (China) bias within the company.