China-led infrastructure projects enhance Africa's skill capacity

Emannuel Nnadozie, the executive secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), says China-Africa collaboration is needed to build the continent's skills capacity.

Chinese construction companies establishing training schools alongside large infrastructure projects is going a long way to building Africa's skills capacity, said the executive secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF).

Speaking during the African Development Week in Senegal, Dakar, executive secretary of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Emannuel Nnadozie said, "Chinese companies are strongly building a talent pool of young Africans specializing in infrastructure development especially in the rail sub-sector, which had previously witnessed a sharp decline due to underinvestment by governments. Currently, we see these training facilities as platforms for skill transfer that will go a long way in maintaining the large scale infrastructure African governments are putting up."

There is an increase in the number of African students graduating from higher institutions under scholarship programs provided by China, he said. However, he added that it has been difficult to match their skills to market needs, leading to many of thes graduates leaving the continent for better opportunities abroad.

"We are yet to develop a monitoring and evaluation system to match the needs of individual countries to the scholarship programs. I think this should be the next program of collaboration between China and Africa," he said at the sidelines of a meeting of experts on managing and coordinating large scale infrastructure in Africa.

Nnadozie said that with the presence of training schools complementing Chinese-led infrastructure programs, it would be easy to turn the schools into vocational institutions with the help of Chinese universities.

"These institutions will easily and quickly build talent pools that are urgently needed for Africa to meet its continental goals," he said.

Last year, the foundation released a report on the critical technical skills required by Africa. It showed that the continent needs 1.9 million researchers, 3.6 million water and sanitation engineers and 854,000 more engineers by 2023

The meeting of experts was held on the second day of the 10th Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The meeting was told that Africa still lagged in infrastructure development. Last year, the continent netted projects valued at $59 million out of $2 trillion worth of projects undertaken globally.

Stephen Karingi, director of the Economic Commission for Africa’s Capacity Development Division, said Africa still faces serious infrastructure shortcomings in access and quality, despite the important contribution it has to leverage industrial potential.

“Albeit with some regional and national disparities, the continent is broadly characterized by poor transportation network,” said Karingi. “Also, the power that is needed to scale industrial plants remains grossly inadequate and access to ICTs still has a long way to go in most countries although progress has been made over the past few years.’’

The deficit is due to lack of skills to develop proposals for bankable projects, inability to manage large scale projects, failure for projects to launch because of heavy reliance on external finances and technical support, he said.

The president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Fredrick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, said that it is imperative for Africa to develop infrastructure, industrialization and innovation.

This was the first of two meetings ahead of a special ECOSOC high-level meeting that will be held in New York in May on innovations for infrastructure development and promoting sustainable industrialization. The second meeting will be held in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe in April.

Lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn