In collaboration with Chinese partners, more than 300 students and their instructors from nine African countries will participate in a training program aimed at helping them become qualified technicians.

In its eighth year, the Africa Tech Challenge helps participants boost their design abilities, especially in reading and drafting construction drawings using cutting-edge technology tools. Teams from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Egypt, Zambia, Tanzania, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon and Zimbabwe have gathered at the Technical University of Kenya in Nairobi to participate in the five-week program.

The program is sponsored by the China Education Association for International Exchange in collaboration with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC.

Ma Chengyuan, Kenya's AVIC country director, told participants that this year's competition, which will be held after the training program, will focus on the rapidly developing engineering industry, especially on design.

Esther Mworia, principal secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Education, said during the program launch that technology studies are important to Kenya and Africa as a whole because the continent is seeking an upscaling of technological skills among the youth to skyrocket into the next stage of industrialization.

"This challenge will enable our youth to leverage different aspects of technology and attain advancements that will make them self-reliant," Mworia said. "Competitions and challenges tend to bring out the best in the participants and we are glad to collaborate with China's advanced technology to uplift our students."

Empowerment initiative

Addressing the participants via video link from China, Zong Wa, deputy secretary-general of the China Education Association for International Exchange, encouraged participants to make the best they can out of the advanced training they will receive.

Tsatsi Hai, the team leader from Zimbabwe, said the Africa Tech Challenge is a youth empowerment initiative that will help young people gain technical skills by enabling them to utilize the latest technology.

"As Team Zimbabwe, we expect to learn new skills and interact with our colleagues across Africa in the field of technical and vocational education and training. As a country, Zimbabwe is in the process of reconfiguring its industrial processes and we hope that by improving our mechanical engineering skills, we will improve Zimbabwe's human capital in engineering," Hai said.

Since its launch in 2014, the Africa Tech Challenge has trained more than 1,500 technicians. This year marks the return to physical instruction by Chinese specialists since the program was moved online in 2020 due to COVID-19.

otiato@chinadaily.com.cn