Changing lives through learning

Confucius Institutes have become China's new ambassadors in Africa by promoting contact

If one were to liken China-Africa relations to the traditional African stool, which has three legs that support the base on which people sit, then it would undoubtedly be economic, political and cultural ties that are the pillars.

Few would, however, doubt the strength of China-Africa economic and political relations. Even the most vociferous of critics would agree that Chinese investments in Africa have been a game changer, contributing to the "Africa rising" narrative.

At the political level, there is little in the way of schisms that have hampered smooth ties between the two sides. Instead, China has through its engagements helped Africa with alternatives and valuable leverage in global affairs.

Though the first two pillars in Sino-Africa ties are relatively strong, it is the third pillar that has needed considerable enhancement, a role that is now being championed by the growing number of Confucius Institutes in Africa.

In 2004, China established its first Confucius Institute in South Korea. A few months later, in 2005, similar establishments were set up in Africa through a partnership between the University of Nairobi in Kenya and the Tianjin Normal University. Confucius Institutes have also played an important role in bridging the cultural gap between China and Africa.

Africans taking Chinese language classes understand that a language is not just about learning words, and meaningful engagements can be achieved only if they speak the language fluently. It is this underlying motivation that is driving an ever-increasing number of Africans to Confucius Institutes.

The popularity of the institutes in Africa can be best gauged from a recent online debate on Sino-African relations. The debate highlighted the importance of language learning and indicated that the Cameroon-based University of Yaounde II was one of the early African educational institutions to offer Chinese classes. The Chinese language center set up by the university in 1995 was converted into a fully fledged Confucius Institute in 2007 after it signed an agreement with the Zhejiang Normal University.

While it was initially thought that South Africa's Stellenbosch University had pioneered the establishment of Confucius Institutes in Africa, it was pointed out that the university's teaching of the Chinese language from 2000 was not a Confucius Institute initiative.

More significantly, the setting-up of the Stellenbosch Confucius Institute in partnership with Xiamen University in 2008 that was the harbinger for the eventual establishment of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University. Looking at these and various other developments, experts in the discussions point out that most of the Confucius Institutes in Africa will eventually become China-Africa research institutions.

In July 2012, I was privileged to attend a discussion between Communication University of China and University of Nairobi's School of Journalism in the Kenyan capital. After the official discussions, the Chinese scholars were ushered out of the main building onto the green lawns of the chancellor's court. Here, a surprise awaited the Chinese team. As they made their way to the precincts of the lawns, they were greeted with songs sung by the university choir. Much to the astonishment of the Chinese team, the choir soon started singing songs in fluent Chinese. This shows the changing face of Confucius Institutes in Africa. The choir was trained to sing in Chinese by the institute instructors.

If you visit places on the continent as far away as Kigali in Rwanda and Stellenbosch in South Africa, don't be taken aback if you encounter children in schools using chopsticks or engaging in taichi, the Chinese body-soul and-mind martial exercises. It would appear that Confucius Institutes have rapidly transformed from offering classroom instructions to any number of Chinese cultural phenomena. This clearly goes a long way in dismantling cultural barriers, for, skills as mundane as using chopsticks impart in young minds an awareness of a culture different from theirs.

Besides being purely cultural agencies, Confucius Institutes are also serving more pragmatic functions. In mid-2012 for instance, Kenya's Egerton University, an institution that trains agricultural experts, set up a Confucius Institute. This institute has been primed to focus on Chinese language aspects relating to agricultural sciences, like the rice growing skills made famous by the father of high-yield hybrid rice Yuan Longping.

With China increasing its strides in Africa, learning the Chinese language is tantamount to success. I wish I could speak more of Chinese, but even the little I can muster stands me in good stead with my Chinese interlocutors and mesmerizes my African colleagues. Even more illustrious are the many Africans who work for Chinese companies and can speak fluent Chinese thanks to the language lessons provided by the Confucius Institutes.

In Tanzania, I met a young woman who works for a leading Chinese IT company. I was impressed to learn that she honed her Chinese language skills by listening to China Radio International's Mandarin broadcasts. CRI is one of the organizations that offer Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban-certified Chinese language programs. Hanban is also the Chinese institution that oversees the management of all Confucius Institutes.

Setting up a Confucius Institute can also be a lucrative venture. In Uganda, Luyinza College in Bweyogerere near Kampala pioneered secondary school Chinese language teaching using volunteer Chinese teachers in 2011. The school's head teacher, Jimmy Dheyongera, has been hailed as a pioneer for championing the need to communicate in the language of the fastest-growing economy and for preparing students for future business engagements with China. Eventually, he found support for his entrepreneurial initiative from Hanban.

The Confucius Institute route to the link between economic and cultural pillars couldn't be more discernible than in the fact that many of the Confucius Institutes today offer short-term courses for Africans working for international organizations and Chinese companies. A good example is the program where professionals working for the United Nations Environmental Program and the United Nations Human Settlement headquarters in Nairobi get basic Chinese language skills, especially when they are due to attend events in China.

Across the continent, a running thread in the whole Chinese language learning and teaching project is that professionals from all walks of life are signing up for the classes. At the University of Botswana Confucius Institute, for instance, the bulk of Chinese language learners are from the private sector.

Who can blame the growing number of African professionals and businesspeople who wish to learn Chinese? After all, for many of them a customary visit to Guangzhou or Yiwu to purchase professional equipment or household goods has become a habitual practice. For them to interact with their Chinese counterparts, some Chinese comes in handy.

The writer is PhD candidate at Communication University of China; and research associate at University of the Witwatersrand.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/16/2014 page9)