On May 12, eight African diplomats including Adama Herdes Compaore, Ambassador of Burkina Faso to China, Nesitang Abina, Ambassador of Togo to China, Francis Yaw Opokum, Minister Counsellor of Ghana to China, and Chola Musonda, First Secretary of Embassy of Zambia to China visited Northwest University. During the visit, the diplomats also met with Guan He, Deputy Inspector from Department of Education of Shaanxi Provincial Government, and Wang Yajie, Party Secretary of Northwest University. Representatives from the Belt and Road Joint Research Center of the University of Zambia, the Party Committee Office and the President Office of Northwest University, Office of International Cooperation (School of International Education) of Northwest University, Northwest University Museum, Institute of Religious Figurative Arts and African Studies Centre also attended the meeting.
Guan He gave a brief introduction to tertiary education in Shaanxi Province and the history of friendly exchanges between China and African countries. Wang Yajie, in his speech, introduced Northwest University’s history, educational philosophy, education for international students, prominent alumni, and its partnership with African higher institutes. Adama Herdes Compaore, Nesitang Abina, Gebru Alemu Ageze, Francis Yaw Opoku and Chola Musonda introduced their countries’ national conditions, history of higher education development and friendly interactions with China to the audience in their respective remarks.
The “Belt & Road” Initiative’s development has led to the growing importance of African studies. Northwest University is committed to shaping multi-layered China-Africa exchanges and cooperation through further consolidating its resources of international and regional studies to gain a deeper view of Africa, and strengthening cooperation and exchanges with African universities and research institutes.
