A Boon for Sustainability China-Africa space cooperation to boost comprehensive development

Talking about space and Africa,Zambia stands out because of an incredible story.As early as 1964,a Zambian teacher named Edward Nkoloso famously vowed to help his country to beat America to become the first country to put a man on the moon,and then go to Mars.Despite his passion to launch a rocket that would send 12 astronauts,a space girl and cats to the moon,Nkoloso’s dream never came to fruition.Through his Zambian Space Academy,Nkoloso’s team of Zambian astronauts,whom he called“Afronauts,”underwent strenuous training,but it all came to nought because the United Nations wouldn’t give him the$700 million he needed to fund the space programme.

A Lifeline for Livestock

Chinese-invented Juncao grass is transforming dairy production in Kenya At his dairy farm in Kiambu County on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Nairobi,Newton Mwangi anxiously takes off his boots and work suit after milking his cows.Mwangi is worried about the inability of the cows to hit the 80-litre target he needs to fulfil for his clients per day,due to a woeful fodder shortage in Kenya.

Instruments of Change

Lucy Wahome stumbles and struggles to maintain her balance and walk as a nurse rushes to lend her support,soon after she got admitted at the clinic.Wahome,30,initially sought medical treatment at her home clinic in Kiambu County,Kenya,which seemed well organised;but she later realised that constant power outages at the facility seriously compromised the quality of care at the clinic.

Pumping Relief Chinese-built water project is a game-changer for local communities in Tanzanian town

When Monica Jiwani relocated to Arusha,the third-largest city in Tanzania,she was dreaming of a happy life in a scenic area.Instead,she was immediately confronted with a harsh and painful reality-scarcity of clean water.The thought of using contaminated water became a constant source of headache.

A Fruitful Exchange

In the heart of South Africa’s rugged Swartberg and Koue Bokkeveld mountains lies the alps towering majestically above fertile citrus farmland,forming a wall that sustains enough rainfall to attract farmers to the south.Siabonga Mbete,34,grows tangerine-a small seedless fruit of the citrus family that is turning South African farmers into millionaires.

Training Train Drivers

As the train engine roars,doors of the wagons gently open at 07:30 a.m.,with crew members waiting for the passengers to board before starting the journey for their next destination.An hour before the departure,Marriam Gadesa heads to the locomotive cabin and quickly tests the locomotive’s power supply,and then starts the engine.

Combating Cholera

Lying in her makeshift hospital bed,Joyce Tembo thanked medical personnel for evacuating her to the designated national cholera treatment centre,6 km north of Zambia’s capital Lusaka.She was recently diagnosed with diarrhoeal disease.Tembo,43,commended the medical sta!stationed at the treatment centre for their great service to thousands of patients,especially women and children seeking urgent treatment.“I am very grateful to the Chinese doctors who attended to me as soon as the ambulance rushed me to the clinic where I received urgent treatment;they have really saved my life,”Tembo told ChinAfrica.But not all residents in her community are as lucky as her.Many in the densely populated slums die every day due to the area’s poor sanitation-one of the major causes of the cholera outbreak.

Powering Production

China helps to diversify Zambia’s energy output to tackle chronic electricity shortages Innocent Gondwe tries to put up a smile as he uses his welding machine anxiously to finish his work in time in order to get paid,before a scheduled power cut.But he is unable to fully hide the pain in his eyes caused by the frequent power cuts that are a!ecting his business,which solely depends on electricity supply from ZESCO,Zambia’s major power utility company.After dropping out of school,Gondwe went all out to establish himself as an artisan to earn a living in Kalingalinga,one of the slums in Lusaka,Zambia’s capital.

A Source of Sustenance

Demand from China propels Ethiopia’s coffee exports It’s past 5 a.m. and Habib Mohammed is leaving his house to start the day at his 2.5-hectare coffee farm in the lush highlands of Ethiopia’s Oromia Region.In this East African country, Oromia is the natural homeland of the delicate Coffea arabica plant, which is driving an insatiable thirst for a beverage that has come to conquer the world.

Educational Enrichment

Abdullahi Okelo in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania tries to fully concentrate as he holds his tool,keen to start his practical work on automobile engine assembly before his tutors’final assessment.Okelo’s dedication is driven by his deep passion for mechanical engineering and years of struggle to develop his engineering skills in a bid to earn a living.

Designing the Future

The Africa Tech Challenge contest provides training and education opportunities for young engineers Since his early high school days, Sean Brown’s immense strength in arithmetic and science subjects has made a career in engineering an obvious choice.Coming from a humble background, 18-yearold Brown knows that hard work always pays and embracing a vision anchored on academic excellence usually opens numerous opportunities in life.

A Source of Success

Every two to three months,Garry Mwitwa leaves his hometown of Kafue and boards a plane bound for China to buy tens of thousands of dollars worth of electronics on every trip.Proficient in Chinese and able to bargain with Chinese wholesalers in Beijing,Mwitwa,35,is a symbol of the booming goods imports from China.The young entrepreneur often carries wads of cash to buy used Chinese-made phones and accessories to sell back home.

Training The Traders

China-sponsored centre in Djibouti is providing crucial know-how to young entrepreneurs in Africa Evans Otieno,34,is the perfect embodiment of a true go-getter,as reflected in his success in perfecting the art of making money through cross-border e-commerce.Starting from the humble beginning of being a street vendor in Naivasha Town,northwest of Nairobi,Kenya’s capital,he has now become an automotive dealer who supplies spare parts to garage owners in Nairobi’s central business district.

Countering the Impact Of Drought

For Getrude Kariuki,a middle-aged smallholder farmer in Narok County in southwest Kenya,life has been a struggle for decades,but things were never as bad as they are now.Kariuki has seen her maize yields dwindle over the years due to scarce rainfall,especially during the 2020-2021 farming season,leaving her and many other households in the area to rely on relief food distributed by the central government.

Productive Union

As South Africans adjust to living in darkness with no end in sight to power outages,many are desperate for alternative energy sources.Known locally as loadshedding,widespread electricity blackouts are carried out multiple times a day by state-owned energy utility Eskom to avoid the total collapse of the grid.For some people,lack of reliable power supply can be the di!erence between life and death,as blackouts have become routine,a!ecting every part of the South African society.

A Bountiful Catch

A group of fishermen from Kenya’s coastal county of Kwale sail quietly in a traditional boat,allowing it to gently glide across the deep waters of the Indian Ocean under a night sky dotted with glittering stars.Abdullai Karim,one of the fishermen,ponders his next fishing expedition as he unloads a bucket full of anchovies(small shoaling fish of commercial importance)locally known as“dagaa”in Swahili.

Keeping It Local

Clement Daka, 40, is a happy man now that a new tile manufacturing plant has been built in Zambia's capital Lusaka. This, said the hardware store manager, will make it easier for his business as he will no longer need to import tiles and other building supplies from China each month.

Farming Goes Hi-Tech Technology empowers Zambian farmers and woos young people into the agricultural field

Technology empowers Zambian farmers and woos young people into the agricultural field It’s the end of the rainy season in Zambia,but it’s not been good for farmers due to the effects of climate change.During the 2019/20 agricultural season,many farmers’fields were severely ravaged by an invasive pest commonly known as fall ai myworms,posing a threat to Zambia's food security.

On the Right Track

The new China-built Mombasa-Nairobi Railway is transforming lives in Kenya It’s 4 a.m. and Julius Kamau is leaving his house to start his day as a taxi driver operating out of Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.Kamau picks passengers arriving at the Mombasa Terminus of the largest seaport in Kenya by the new China-built Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line. Mombasa is a favourite holiday destination for tourists, especially during weekends,holidays and the festive season.

A Fair to Find Jobs

Chinese job expo helps Zambian youths access to employment Armed with their resumes,over 200 job-seekers,who were mostly young graduates of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia(UNZA)and other institutions of higher learning in the country,prowled the lush grounds of the university’s Great East Road campus of the university,looking for signs of job openings.