Companies promote industrialization

When Alvis Ng'eno, a 30-year-old Kenyan, graduated from university in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in energy management, he had hopes of working in the energy sector.

However, Kenya's high unemployment rate meant he had to settle for the first opportunity that came his way.

Ng'eno began his professional journey in 2018 as a business development executive at Dynavolt Technology (Kenya), a Chinese solar power company. He handled responsibilities beyond solar power engineering, including management, which he credits for his transition from technical to administrative functions.

Later in the year, his Chinese supervisors, who had seen his potential for career growth, recommended him for a vacancy at the China Road and Bridge Corporation Kenya headquarters in Nairobi, where he began working as a payroll clerk.

"Following a three-month probation at CRBC, I was entrusted with additional responsibilities and promoted to employee relations and management," Ng'eno said. "By 2020, I was tasked with coordinating human resource operations and ensuring compliance with company policies. Based at the head office, I support and coordinate operations across various sections and branches."

His eagerness to work with Chinese companies was influenced by the fact that they offer locals exposure to large-scale projects and diverse roles, allowing employees to gain valuable experience across different areas of the business. There is also room for upward mobility through promotions.

Many other young people across Africa have found employment with Chinese companies in recent decades, becoming pillars in technology and management in various sectors, and promoting the continent's industrialization.

Liu Chenghui, CRBC Kenya's deputy general manager, said that since the company was established in Kenya in 1984 it has built a large number of infrastructure projects, such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway and Nairobi Expressway, and also provided extensive training to local workers.

Through partnerships with local schools, CRBC Kenya has also trained over 2,800 high-quality railway professionals. In addition, Liu said it also creates employment and conducts technology transfer indirectly by supporting local industries and businesses through its infrastructure projects.

He cited the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, where CRBC extensively collaborated with over 200 Kenyan subcontractors, procuring more than 51,000 metric tons of steel, 15 million liters of diesel and 16,000 tons of cement locally.

According to a report released by the China-Africa Business Council last month, more than 3,000 Chinese enterprises had invested in Africa by the end of 2022, and Chinese investment in various areas such as infrastructure, manufacturing and trade has contributed to industrial upgrades in Africa.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a vocational school set up by Sicomines, a China-DRC joint mining company, in Kapata village, Kolwezi, has become a magnet for young people living nearby who are seeking knowledge and training.

Selon Serge, a laboratory technician at Sicomines, said it has been adopting the latest technologies for mining, which were not taught at local schools. Graduates are trained in the new technologies after they join the company.

Ng'eno said Africa's labor force has greatly improved through cooperation with China owing to the nation's advanced level of technology. That exposure to Chinese methods and technologies enhances the workforce's expertise and capabilities, and promotes local industrialization, he said.