"I hope you will excel in your professional studies, continue the traditional friendship, devote yourselves to the cooperation between the two countries, share good stories of Sino-Africa friendship, and make greater contributions to building a high-level Sino-Africa community with a shared future." On January 17th of this year, President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from Kenyan student representatives and alumni of Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), encouraging them to continue shining brightly for the causes of Sino-Kenyan and Sino-African friendship.
The letter to President Xi Jinping was written by Kariu, a Kenyan student representative at BJTU. Prior to the opening of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), BJTU and the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which constructed the SGR, initiated a joint undergraduate training program for Kenyan students, aiming to provide management talents to the Kenyan and East African railway transportation industries. After seeing the enrollment advertisement in a newspaper, Kariu decided to apply and was successfully admitted. Upon graduating in 2021, Kariu returned to Kenya to join the SGR project as a railway engineer and participated in railway planning efforts in Kenya. In 2023, he returned to his alma mater for further studies, beginning a Master's degree in Civil Engineering. "It has been more than 10 years since The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, and we are beneficiaries. Our stories are a microcosm of educational exchanges under the framework of the Initiative," said Kariu.
"My name is Bai Yang, and I am Nigeria's first female train driver." In 2008, Bai Yang joined the local company established by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). During the construction of the Abuja Metro in 2013, the company trained a group of local train drivers to participate in metro operations, and Bai Yang enrolled in the training program. At that time, it was unheard-of for girls to drive trains locally. Bai Yang diligently studied how to operate various types of locomotives and carefully polished every technical detail, ultimately becoming a qualified train driver. In July 2018, Abuja Metro, the first metro in West Africa, officially opened. On the opening day, Bai Yang served as the train driver and met with then-Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Today, female train drivers in Nigeria have grown from an individual to a group.
Nigeria has also opened Africa's first transportation university. In May of this year, the first phase of the Federal University of Transportation in Nigeria, aided by CCECC, was completed and handed over. This university will cultivate a large number of professionals in the fields of transportation and railway engineering in Nigeria, filling gaps in knowledge and technology in these areas. "Building a transportation university in my hometown can turn the dreams of many more people into reality," said Aba Haruna Modu, a localized site engineer in the Northern Region Manager's Office of CCECC Nigeria Ltd., who participated in the construction of the Federal University of Transportation in Nigeria. In his view, cultivating talents is the key to the development of his hometown.
The young man from Guinea, Kabba, systematically studied professional knowledge of industrial engineering at Wuhan University of Technology. In July 2023, upon returning to his home country after completing his studies, Kabba learned that three ore berth terminals and one shore approach bridge were to be constructed at the Mariabaia Port in Guinea. Consequently, he promptly submitted his resume and became a mechanical translator. "CCCC is a large company. I am certain that I can acquire construction management experience here," Kabba stated.
The Chinese masters knew that Cabba had the ambition to become an engineer, and they would make time for him to "have private lessons" even if they were busy at work. Gradually, Cabba was able to complete some equipment deployment tasks independently. Recently, Cabba bought his mother a smartphone, and besides listening to music and watching dramas, she often chats with Cabba. "The Chinese masters treat me like a younger brother and encourage me to learn more skills. They also taught me local dialects. I'll take you to see the completed projects when I have the chance..." Cabba told his mother on the phone.
The African continent has a large population of young people, and cooperation in personnel training is an important part of China-Africa cooperation. In recent years, under the guidance of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China-Africa cooperation in personnel training has flourished. With the implementation of projects such as the Luban Workshop, the Confucius Institute and the China-Africa University Cooperation Plan, China has helped Africa train more local professionals and added momentum to the sustainable development of African countries.
The Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2021 put forward the capacity building project, and held the " Employment Express for African Students" every year to help African students connect with Chinese enterprises, and support African students to find jobs in Chinese enterprises after returning home.
The China-Africa Talent Training Cooperation Plan released in August 2023 proposes to carry out a work plan for young African scientists to come to China. China and Africa will jointly train talents of various types for the modernization of governance capacity, economic and social development, efficiency enhancement of scientific and technological innovation, and improvement of people's well-being, so as to help achieve the goals of human capital development in the first Decade Plan of Agenda 2063 of the African Union. China-Africa capacity building cooperation is bearing fruit in areas such as digital economy, cutting-edge science and technology and social governance, contributing to the revitalization of Africa.
On September 2, Xu Jianping, director of the Department of Regional Opening Up of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced at the first briefing of the Press Center of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit that China and Africa have jointly implemented the " Employment Express for African Students " plan, set up a number of special scholarships, set up the College of South-South Cooperation and Development, and built 17 Luban workshops in Africa. A large number of highly skilled personnel have been trained for African countries.
Source from: China Communications News