In Ethiopia, a success story

Nine outstanding students, mainly machinery engineering and Chinese language majors from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, were awarded international scholarships sponsored by Xugong Construction Machinery Group on Nov. 29.

On behalf of the winners, Leoul Dessalegn expressed his gratitude for the support from the company and the Confucius Institute.

"We will study hard to repay the society and contribute to the economic and social development of Ethiopia," he said at the awarding ceremony.

In his address at the ceremony, Xiao Xiao, chief representative for the company's East Africa Region, expressed the company's corporate vision to build better lives for people.

"The scholarship aims to help Ethiopian students, particularly those outstanding students majoring in machinery engineering, to complete their studies," he says.

He says that the company is willing to cultivate more outstanding students through the platform of the Confucius Institute in Addis Ababa.

Jeilu Oumer, academic vice-president of Addis Ababa University, welcomed the support from the company and spoke highly of the considerable efforts of the Confucius Institute that led to the success of the event.

He said he expects to further expand cooperation and exchanges between the university and the Chinese enterprise and hopes that the company will provide more opportunities for students.

Luo Pengcheng, commercial third secretary of the economic and commercial counselor's office at the Embassy of China in Ethiopia, says as an important cooperative partner of Ethiopia, the embassy encourages Chinese enterprises to carry out their social responsibilities and help support the education of Ethiopia.

According to Gao Lili, director of the Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University, XCMG will provide the scholarship for three years, with a sponsorship of $2,400 every year. This year, there was one first-prize winner, three second-prize winners getting $200, respectively.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/02/2016 page22)