Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) International Holding Corporation, has launched the third edition of the Africa Tech Challenge dubbed “Made in Kenya”.
The challenge brought together students from Zambia, Uganda, Ghana and Kenya who will compete to come up with the best innovations.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Deputy President William Ruto reiterated the government’s commitment to raising the standards of technical training Institutes in Kenya and lauded the corporate social responsibility of AVIC in youth empowerment projects aimed at upgrading technical skills of African students.
“As a country, we have made tremendous steps in trying to integrate technical education to be in line with our overall education goals. I wish to urge the relevant stakeholders to continue putting in more efforts in appreciating the role that these people play in the economic development of our country,” Ruto said.
On his part, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Dr Liu Xianfa affirmed his country’s continued support for technical education indicating that over the last three years, China has been at the forefront in stimulating economic growth through expertise development.
“Through the Africa Technical Challenge, we have been upgrading the practical skills of African students pursuing technical courses in Africa to meet the needs of the continent in its growth and industrialisation. Kenya and Africa as a whole presents a very good opportunity for us to exploit the potential of these two countries and we are always happy to be part of this journey,” Dr Xianfa said.
The event also saw over 100 students from East Africa get awarded with scholarships to study in China while the winners of the last competition were awarded monetary prizes.
At the same time, Rift Valley Technical Training Institute and Kenya Technical Training Institute were awarded contracts worth Sh5 Million each to manufacture spare parts for export to China.