March of the workplace volunteer

Volunteer programs add fresh perspective to China's engagements in Africa

Meaningful engagement between Chinese and African students, particularly through volunteer programs, will translate into solid physical investments for the future, particularly in the private sector, experts say.

Since Africa seems to be the preferred destination for volunteers and interns in humanitarian and aid fields, it is essential that China uses people exchange programs to establish lasting ties with African nations. However, some things need to change, they say.

"Most of the earlier engagements were restricted to China sending volunteers to Africa or to offer scholarships to African students for studies in China," says Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, founder of the China-Africa Internship Programme, which seeks to establish more meaningful ties between the two sides.

"What has now changed is that Africans are taking the lead to establish a more balanced, two-way communication among the younger generation."

The program, set up in 2012, seeks to equip Africa-based companies and business leaders with the strategic insight required to ensure that they are competitively placed to engage with Chinese enterprises, by recruiting Chinese interns or employees from top universities in China.

"What sets the program apart is that the students will add value while assisting the African company in question to develop a China strategy or serve as the company's ears and eyes on the ground upon return to China," Fokuo says.

The program has also been incorporated into the Sino Africa Centre of Excellence Foundation, a China-Africa initiative, and is a legal entity in Mauritius, with representatives in China, Kenya and South Africa.

"Accounting for the commitments made during the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation and the various bilateral agreements between China and African countries will ensure that China's footprint in the continent is more visible and its impact unavoidable in the future," Fokuo says.

"The program's objective is to proactively increase cooperation between the two sides by fostering the equitable exchange of business opportunities in the areas of enterprise creation and bilateral trade."

For its first phase, the program selected eight candidates from a pool of about 60 applicants enrolled in 20 of the top-tier academic institutes of excellence in China. Successful candidates were sent to African countries for short-term internships in local or international companies in legal, business, trade, banking or financial industries.

Tian Yuan, 21, a college student from Beijing Language and Culture University, was one of the first participants in the program and has spent seven months in Kenya. She has also worked with the Sino Africa Centre of Excellence Foundation as an analyst.

"The foundation was a good opportunity for me to work in Africa during my gap year," she says. "During my interview we spent over three hours discussing career possibilities and what I expected from the program." Her trip to Africa was arranged immediately after the interview.

"The program was not only about finding a job, but an invaluable platform for exchanging ideas between Chinese and African businesses.

"But more importantly, it offered me a chance to communicate with people on common issues. This has helped broaden my horizon.

"Before I went to college, my dream was to go to Europe or North America. I hoped to work and live there after my graduation," she says. "When I chose teaching a foreign language as my major, I found that my dream didn't fit in with my expectations."

She was frustrated and disappointed during the first two years of college, until she met two friends from Kenya, she says.

"They told me life was full of opportunities and you need to keep searching for them," Tian says. "They told me Africa could be a nice place to pursue my dreams."

Tian says the two African friends helped her get a part-time job as a teacher in a Kenyan orphanage over the summer holidays in her second year. On arriving in Africa she was immediately impressed, she says.

"I took Matatu, a local mini bus with the locals, played football with my students, organized salons on Chinese culture, and even persuaded the local hospital to offer free treatment to my students."

Her volunteer experience transformed her ideas about Africa and its people and also prompted her to consider Africa as a career option.

After joining the foundation, she has played a key role in attracting more interns and employees from China.

"In Africa, one needs to be a multi-tasker. We have to compile the investment guidance on Kenya for Chinese investors, and also write online blogs about our experience to attract more Chinese interns. Liaising and maintaining good relations with the local Chinese companies that used to shy away from African and other international organizations was another challenging experience," she says.

Tian says working in an extremely different working environment is tough, but the changes she and her team made, along with the change Africa is making, has made her determined to be here for some time.

Li Yixin, a 24-year-old graduate student from Ningbo Nottingham University in eastern China's Zhejiang province, is another successful candidate of the program who is serving as an intern with a local law firm in Nairobi. He says he received information about the program through a popular Chinese online network called Renren.com.

Curiosity and optimism over Africa made him choose the program, he says.

"My current job is to coordinate the idea exchanges between local companies and Chinese ones, while offering them some legal assistance," he says. "I have dealt with several disputes involving Chinese companies resulting from the improper interpretation of local laws."

Language is another major impediment for Chinese businesses in Africa and something that needs urgent attention, he says.

"Based on my experience as an interpreter in some immigration cases, I found language is always a major reason for conflict," he says. His current responsibility is to establish reliable relationships and mutual trust between Chinese companies and his legal firm.

"To be honest, before my trip to Africa, I considered it an interesting and short internship and a chance to see a different part of the world," he says. "But my working experience here has taught me that Africa is a place with huge potential, and that there are many things that you can do as a Chinese."

After his internship, Li plans to start an online platform that gives professional consultation and investment information about Africa to potential Chinese investors or even to those who have been in Africa for several years.

"Correct and balanced information sharing is crucial. But my idea will not be that easy to get off the ground, and I need more time to research the feasibility of the project."

The program is not a one-way street, says its project head Victoria Mwirichia. The focus is to mobilize resources from both sides to enhance the bilateral relationship in trade and business, and mutual understanding in these fields.

"The second phase, which will be launched in July will provide an opportunity for African students in Africa as well as those studying in China to gain internships in China and also engage in similar opportunities in China," Mwirichia says.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/28/2014 page10)