BoFiNet has appointed Dr Gaone Seleka as CEO to expand Botswana’s fibre backbone and cross-border connectivity. What it signals for operators and
Section
Profiles
Court Rejects Bid to Halt PSBC Secretary Appointment
The Lobatse High Court has dismissed a union bid to block Andrew Motsamai as PSBC Secretary, clearing the way for Botswana’s public-service bargaining-council
Pipeline-Builders: China-Africa Youth Contests Bet on Founders, Not Factories
A China-Africa youth entrepreneurship competition now runs across continents on digital economy and AI. The harder question is what happens to the founders after the final in Wuhan.
Training at Scale: China’s Bet on African Technicians and Officials
China is training African technicians and officials in the tens of thousands, with a 2025 target near 20,000. The pledges count people precisely and price them not at all.
Engineering Academies: FOCAC Reframes Schools as Workforce Infrastructure
At the 2024 FOCAC Summit China pledged an engineering technology academy, ten new Luban Workshops and about 60,000 training places. The framing treats schools as infrastructure.
Future of Africa Plan: China Sets a 20,000-Trainee Target for 2025
China has put a number on its African skills ambition: about 20,000 people trained in 2025. The plan is precise where it counts heads and vague where it counts money.
Djibouti’s Luban Workshop: Africa’s First, Built Beside a Railway
Africa’s first Luban Workshop opened in a country with almost no manufacturing base. Its classroom is a railway, and its first graduating class numbered 24.
Durban’s Luban Workshop: A Single Campus Tests China’s Skills Diplomacy
The most visible symbol of China-South Africa skills cooperation is not a flagship factory or a port. It is two rooms on a Durban university campus, fitted out for 3D printing.
Trained to Hire: Luban Workshops and the Jobs Inside Chinese Firms
Luban Workshops teach skills and Mandarin together, feeding graduates into Chinese-invested enterprises. That pipeline is the model’s strength and its catch.