It's been said that education is one of the most powerful tools you can use to change the world. China is helping Africa do just that through wide-ranging training and human capital development cooperation programs.  

From modern farming techniques to cutting-edge engineering and latest information communication technologies, China is taking a leading role in equipping African youths with the tools they need to change and develop their nations.

FARAI MWAKUTUYA HARARE, ZIMBABWE "A number of regional vocational education centers and capacity-building colleges, which have churned hundreds of thousands of technicians have been established."

African students have also been offered once in a lifetime opportunities to earn degrees at tertiary institutions in China. Allen Chimombe has just returned from a year-long Masters Programme in Journalism and Communications from Beijing's Communications University of China.

ALLEN CHIMOMBE SCHOLARSHIP BENEFICIARY "To me it was quite an interesting study because I got to interact with other students from other parts of the world and I really wanted to have that international feel because my first degree I studied in Zimbabwe and I was looking forward to having international exposure and I must say I gained quite a lot as well as just being in another country that is growing fast technologically and in terms of its resources."

Allen was on a government-to-government scholarship, one of at least 2,000 awarded across Africa every year.

ALLEN CHIMOMBE SCHOLARSHIP BENEFICIARY "A lot of African students are benefiting from this sort of arrangement. It allows African countries to develop their human resources capacity by way of those scholarships, which ordinarily some of the students would not be able to meet the cost of the education, which we got in China"

The exposure came in handy for the social media and technology enthusiast.

ALLEN CHIMOMBE SCHOLARSHIP BENEFICIARY "So just getting to learn about the new media technologies that are in use in China to me that was an eye-opener. I got to know the kind of horizons that you can expand even as a country in terms of investing in technology. It's quite different from what I learnt when I was here. Some of the things I got to use the technology, things I only learnt about in theory when I was in Zimbabwe."

He now looks forward to making his mark on his country.

ALLEN CHIMOMBE SCHOLARSHIP BENEFICIARY "There is scope for me also do consultancy work and with that humble contribution maybe I can change one or two things about our media."

Farai Mwakutuya , CGTN, HARARE, ZIMBABWE.