A group of talented African students had their vocational skills put to the test at the Africa Tech Challenge Season IX 2024 in Beijing recently, and for many of the winners, the experience was a dream come true.

This was particularly the case for Makwiti Tapiwa Mpofu from Zimbabwe and Boateng Anthony from Ghana, two first-place winners at the event.

"I want to thank the ATC for making all their efforts to help talented youngsters in Africa and letting us showcase our talent here in the capital city of China," said Mpofu, who is a student at Ningbo Polytechnic, a vocational college in Zhejiang province. "I do hope the ATC will continue to let the African students be proud of what they can do and help them to live their dreams."

Anthony, who studies architecture at Rizhao Polytechnic in Shandong province, said he wanted to thank all of the organizers in this skills competition "for helping to make our dreams come true".

He added, "We hope to use this experience and knowledge gained from this contest to contribute to the construction industry in our nations."

A total of 73 young people from seven African countries — Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Rwanda — took part in the ATC IX, which was co-hosted by the China Education Association for International Exchange and AVIC International Holding, the international trade wing of Aviation Industry Corp of China, a State-owned aircraft conglomerate.

All of the contestants were selected from among African students at vocational colleges in China. They competed in skills tests in two categories: programmable logic controller technology and computer-aided design in architectural engineering.

The first ATC was organized by AVIC International Holding in Kenya in 2014. Since then, nine contests have been held, attracting nearly 1,300 participants from 10 countries.

Zhong Sijun, deputy general manager of AVIC International Holding, said that by hosting the skills contest, his company aims to enhance the vocational competence of African youth and promote cooperation in vocational education between China and Africa.

Shi Yue, an organizer of the contest in Beijing, said the categories at the event were carefully chosen because they wished to select the most useful skills for the economic development in most African countries.

"We want to give the African youngsters knowledge and expertise that they can use to build their own countries," she said.