Passing on vital skills, knowledge

Chinese companies teach Kenyan youth how to operate and maintain equipment that has been supplied to nation to encourage self-reliance and to help create jobs

As well as carrying out construction projects in Kenya, Chinese companies have been committed to transferring technical skills to its people with the aim of deepening friendship between the two countries.

They have established training schools for local employees and have partnered with colleges to impart technical skills to students, lecturers and employees.

One such company is Avic International Holding Corp, a Chinese national aero-technology giant, which has established a strong relationship with the National Youth Service, a Kenyan voluntary work and educational program for young people.

The company has not only helped NYS to acquire modern equipment, machinery and vehicles from China, but has also trained its mechanics and operators in their use and maintenance.

Toward that end, 153 NYS mechanics and operators on April 28 received certificates after completing a course. They thanked Avic International for the opportunity to acquire the skills.

Jackson Kimani, one of the beneficiaries of the course and a mechanic at the NYS, says it will now be easier to handle the new vehicles and machines, made using modern technology.

"With the acquired knowledge, we can increase the lifespan of vehicles, machines and equipment," he says.

The two-and-a-half-year course covered machinery and motor vehicle operation, maintenance, servicing, working principles, spare parts assembly and disassembly.

Maurice Mazeras, officer in charge of the NYS Mechanical and Transport Branch, a department that coordinates hiring of the vehicles and equipment, expresses his gratitude to Avic.

"Without Avic International, we would not have acquired the new machines and the technical skills," he says.

In addition to operators and technicians, about 15,000 young people have also benefited from the training.

Avic representative Su Tianshu says the skills gained will create opportunities for self-employment and cultivate the spirit of entrepreneurship.

"I strongly believe that high youth unemployment can definitely be reduced via the skills training that this project offers," he says.

He says young people represent the greatest asset and opportunity for any country seeking to harness prosperity, hence need to invest in technical training to provide missing skills.

"We hope that more youth will be trained through this project, because they have great potential and power to improve and develop the national economy," he says.

The relationship between NYS and Avic dates back to 2007, when Avic and the Kenyan Ministry of State for Youth Affairs signed a contract to supply vehicles and workshop machinery at a cost of $50.8 million.

The equipment, which was shipped into the country in 2009, included earthmoving plants, workshop equipment, automotive and construction plants, farm machinery; radio, communication apparatus and IT products.

In 2012, the two parties signed another contract amounting to $69.8 million. It included 289 vehicles and earthmoving equipment required for construction projects by NYS. They were shipped to the country in September 2014.

NYS Director, General Richard Ndubai says several community development projects have been carried out using the equipment.

"More than 150 national infrastructure projects have benefited from the equipment," he says.

In addition to the NYS program, Avic also runs Africa Tech Challenge as a youth empowerment project. The program, which was launched in 2014, in conjunction with Kenya's Ministry of Education, aims to spur a culture of entrepreneurship among youth by encouraging those taking technical courses to utilize their capabilities and creativity to be self-reliant and create jobs.

edithmutethya@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/12/2017 page28)