Recently, the China Association of Higher Education announced the list of Chinese member universities for the "China-Africa 100 Universities Cooperation Program" and the "China-Africa University Alliance" exchange mechanism; and 50 universities were selected as Chinese members of the "China-Africa 100 Universities Cooperation Program", while 252 universities were admitted as Chinese members of the "China-Africa University Alliance" exchange mechanism. This represents another major initiative by China to support Africa's educational development, signifies the expansion and enhancement of university cooperation between China and Africa, and opens a new pathway for China's educational openness to the world.
Africa is the region with the weakest higher education system in the world. Currently, Africa is striving to bridge the gap between education and industry. In February 2024, the African Union released Agenda 2063: Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2024–2033), which calls for reform in higher education, including increase of the net enrollment rate to at least 50%; requiring that 40% of university graduates specialize in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields; and enhancing the contribution and conversion rates of scientific research, with the goal that 50% of Africa's scientific output will be translated into industrial innovation and enterprise production by 2033.
China has provided steadfast support for Africa’s demand for development. China is actively implementing agreements such as the "Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development", aligning with the development goal of the African Union, and selecting over 250 universities to engage in specific cooperation with African universities in joint research, talent development, knowledge innovation and cultural understanding. More than 70% of these Chinese universities focus on disciplines closely related to industrial development, such as agriculture, health, resource development, environmental protection and digital education. The key fields of China-Africa university collaboration are closely aligned with the AU’s "Second Decade" objectives, effectively enhancing stakeholder coordination, advancing the attainability of Africa's goal for educational transformation, and injecting sustained momentum into Africa's development.
Under the framework of the "China-Africa University Alliance" exchange mechanism, a significant number of "Double First-Class" institutions, regional universities and private colleges have engaged in intercollegiate cooperation and exchanges with various African universities. China-Africa universities will re-conceive and reinterpret core concepts of human civilization and development through shared practices and experiences, with China-African civilizational wisdom, governance expertise and technologies/knowledge/talent for South-South cooperation emerging as a new focus for disciplinary development, research, talent development and international engagement.
Thus, both Chinese and African universities have ushered in a new phase of development. For the African side, it will enhance capacity-building to better align with the actual development need; for the Chinese side, it will effectively address the long-standing unequivalence in educational internationalization — characterized by "more inbound than outbound" exchanges — promote mutual engagement between Chinese universities and global educational systems, accelerate the overall process of higher education internationalization, and establish a more balanced and comprehensive framework for educational openness.
The "China-Africa 100 Universities Cooperation Program" proposes for inter-university collaboration in a cluster-based model, encompassing joint research, student exchanges, faculty mutual visits and talent development. Cluster-based cooperation requires shifting from previous individual efforts to a synergistic model of resource concentration, necessitating integrated goal restructuring for collaborators and project benefits, along with systematic planning and coordinated actions for HR, finance, material and policy system.
China will further strengthen close coordination with continental, regional and specialized organizations in Africa such as the African Union, enhance multilateral cooperation with international organizations including UNESCO and the World Bank as well as other countries, and deepen interactive collaboration with key industries and sectors involved in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. Cluster-based cooperation is expected to actively promote internal resource intensification and external benefit maximization, including linking talent, knowledge and technology between universities and industries to generate synergistic value chain effects; facilitating effective knowledge and technology flows for deep integration of innovative technologies and production factors; and supporting industrial upgrading to drive socioeconomic development.
Currently, Chinese and African universities emphasize synergizing and linking talent, knowledge, technology and the like resource elements to address major theoretical and practical issues in China-Africa cooperation. A number of Chinese science, engineering and trade universities are focusing on pragmatic cooperation with African universities in fields such as knowledge flow, technology transfer and professional talent development for adapting to the development of "new economy" forms like digital economy, green development and health industries to achieve differentiated development goals for both sides. A number of universities engaged in humanities and social sciences will focus on deepening the sharing of development concepts and social governance experiences between China and Africa, promoting cultural exchanges and people-to-people connectivity, and supporting bilateral cooperation at the ideological and cognitive levels.
China and Africa regard each other as their most important partners. It is both the bounden duty and a promising endeavor for higher education institutions in China and Africa to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, share the stories of China-Africa cooperation featuring sincerity, practical result, affinity and good faith, and jointly build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.