From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria has said it is expanding railway vocational education and training to equip more young Nigerians with practical skills, improve their employment prospects and strengthen the country’s railway workforce.
Its Deputy Managing Director, Zhou Dongping, disclosed this during the Sixth China-Africa Special Session of Global Link for Youth Actions held in Abuja, saying the initiative would also support the long-term development of Nigeria’s railway sector.
Addressing young people from China and Africa who participated in person and online, Zhou said vocational education should connect classroom learning with workplace needs and give young people opportunities to apply their knowledge.
“For enterprises, promoting vocational education helps align talent development with workplace needs. For young people, mastering a practical skill is an important first step towards employment and wider opportunities. We hope to connect our practical experience more closely with young people’s development needs, so that classroom learning can be applied to the real job market.”
Zhou described young people as the future of China-Africa cooperation and an important force in advancing exchanges and practical collaboration between the two sides.
He said 2026 marked the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, adding that the session, themed “Promoting China-Africa Youth Exchange and Advancing Practical Youth Cooperation,” offered participants an opportunity to share experiences, showcase projects and connect with potential partners.
“Today is both an exchange among young people and an opportunity to turn common ground into action and ideas into cooperation,” he said.
Stressing the company’s relationship with its host communities, Zhou said cooperation between Chinese and Nigerian employees extended beyond technical work to building trust and mutual understanding.
“As a Chinese company deeply rooted in Nigeria, CCECC deeply values its ties with local communities. We know that skilled people are essential to every project and that young people are vital to the long-term development of our cooperation. As our Chinese and Nigerian colleagues exchange technical knowledge, share experience, and solve problems together, they also deepen mutual understanding and build trust,” he said.
He added that young people needed professional guidance, partners and opportunities to translate their ideas into practical projects.
“Young people are full of ideas and passion, but they also need opportunities to put their ideas into practice, along with professional guidance and partners. Through this event, we hope to better understand the actual needs of youth and to identify practical areas where enterprises can participate, to make projects move from planning to implementation.”
Zhou encouraged participants to speak openly, learn from one another and begin with a concrete project, a skills-sharing session or a practical partnership that could turn their connections into joint action.
He said CCECC Nigeria was ready to draw on its business experience and resources to work with partners on opportunities that would help young people build skills, gain practical experience and advance exchanges between China and Africa.
Founder and Director of The King’s Patriots Development Foundation (KPDF), Jude Isaac Dahilo, said the event sought to help talented young Africans and business owners identify opportunities in China’s activities and position themselves to benefit.
“So, we are also telling China, look, we have young people, talented people who have businesses. How do you come in? How do you help their businesses to grow? And that’s what this event is about. And then, it will also proceed to forming a pool where they can choose people to visit China to learn one or two things after this event,” Dahilo said.