Luban Workshops boost vocational training for African youth

Since the launch of the Djibouti Luban Workshop in March 2019, the first such workshop established in Africa, a total of 14 Luban Workshops have been established in African countries, including Kenya, South Africa, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar, and Ethiopia.

The Luban Workshops, part of eight major initiatives unveiled at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, have filled the gap in vocational education cooperation between China and Africa.

Guests cut the ribbon for the Kenya Luban Workshop at Machakos University in Machakos, Kenya, on Dec 14, 2019.

Combining academic education with vocational training, Luban Workshops boast training centers and advanced teaching equipment and organize Chinese teachers and technicians to conduct technical training for local teachers.

The workshops give full play to their advantages in mechanical automation, artificial intelligence and digitization and trained a labor force that meets the needs of African social development through integration between industry and education as well as cooperation between enterprises and colleges.

Adamu Adamu, Nigeria's education minister, said the Luban Workshops provide young Nigerians with technical and vocational training opportunities, which will boost the development of the country. 

Uganda's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Elioda Tumwesigye said the Luban Workshops will further advance the development of vocational education and industrialization in Uganda, and promote Uganda's economic transformation.

"The Luban Workshops offer the best training sessions," said Owen Alikula, a student majoring in information technology at Machakos University in Kenya. "I would like to recommend them to all my schoolmates who are keen on technology."

Ethiopian Luban Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The cooperation model of the Luban Workshops is a sustainable solution with good prospects, according to experts. It has worked in many countries and can be applied in other fields. It provides excellent practical experience for comprehensive cooperation between China and Africa in both traditional sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, and emerging areas like biomedicine and electronic communications, they said.

The Luban Workshops, which are backed by Chinese experience and technologies, aim to provide African youth with modern professional knowledge and skills. They will also facilitate Africa's economic and social development and contribute to the acceleration of industrialization in Africa.