One of the largest solar farms it Africa, it was designed and built, within one year, by China Jiangxi Corporation for China’s International Economic and Technical Co-operation (CJIC). The annual output is 100,000 MWH and meets the power demand of 70,000 households (some 350,000 people), equivalent to some 50 percent of the population of Garissa. The company says they trained 50 local experts for the installation of solar panels, operation and repairs during the project. Kenya so far is highly dependent on hydropower, which provides about 50 percent of its energy mix. During dry season, the restriction of hydropower generation capacity is affecting the national power supply.

Xinhua news release, December 14, 2019

The wide-range multispectral remote-sensing microsatellite donated to Ethiopia was sent into space together with eight other satellites. Weighing about 65 kg and having a design life of two years, the satellite can obtain remote-sensing data for agriculture, forestry, water conservation, as well as disaster prevention and mitigation. About 20 Ethiopian engineers have been trained in China for the operation of the ground station.

Xinhua news release, December 20, 2019

According to official sources, the Chinese government has financed more than 4,900 Zimbabwean officers and specialists to attend seminars and training courses in China From the 1990s to the present, the Chinese government has financed more than 4,900 Zimbabwean officers and specialists to attend seminars and training courses in China from the 1990s to the present. In an effort to support Zimbabwe’s aviation sector, the Chinese government sponsored 25 Zimbabweans to attend a three-week training workshop in Qingdao.

Xinhua news release, December 21, 2019

At the 4th “Digital Silk Road” International Conference held in Shenzhen from Dec. 17, 2019, it was announced that China’s Earth Big Data will support agricultural disaster countermeasures in African countries. Within the “Digital Silk Road Project” (DBAR), the Chinese Academy of Sciences donated to Mozambique data drafting the country’s arable land at 10-meter resolution. The data are considered to help Mozambique’s ability to respond to disasters such as floods, droughts and crop pests, supporting agricultural development, development of water resources and food security.

Japan JST China news, December 19, 2019

The Lake Turkana Basin Biological survey project (will be a collaborative effort between the National Museum of Kenya NMK, the Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre (SAJOREC) and the Kenya Wildlife Service, It is considered the first coordinated and comprehensive study on the plant and animal species in the Lake Turkana basin area (Turkana lake is 290 km long and 32 km wide). The study will also offer capacity building for Kenyan researchers who are expected to  benefit from knowledge transfer.

Xinhua news release, January 13, 2020

The outgoing 12th Chinese medical team stationed in Namibia for one year and a half at the Chinese Acupuncture Department of Katutura State Hospital managed to administer Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to over 20,000 patients at the hospital and at other facilities in the country. TCM seems to gain popularity in Namibia, in particular with elderly patients. The first agreement between China and Namibia in the area of health was signed in 1996 and the specific protocol for acupuncture services was extended every two years since 2010 at the request of the Namibian government.

Xinhua news release, January 17, 2020

The center is located at Namanve Industrial Park in the central district of Mukono and was opened by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. It will train local workers and manufacture mechanical parts using modern technology such as mechatronics. The center hosts computer numerical control technology for manufacturing tools and equipment and precision machining, for machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, grinders, and drill presses. Chinese contribution was 200 million yuan (~25 million €).

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/26/c_136925130.htm

Xinhua news release, January 15, 2020

The Chinese province of Zhejiang in May 2019 launched a project of “Let’s Travel to Africa”, part of a five-year exchange and cooperation plan in the tourism sector between Zhejiang and Africa, which will see about 10,000 Zhejiang residents travel to Africa. According to Air Tanzania, 250 Tanzanian entrepreneurs will fly to Hangzhou on Feb. 24.

Xinhua news release, January 16, 2020

KinLai Co., a subsidiary of the Portuguese Nors Group, will be the official distributor of Dongfeng Trucks in Angola. A Dongfeng representative said that the sales volume in Angola justifies installation of assembly lines outside China, which is also happening in other African countries.

Xinhua news release, January 15, 2020

According to government sources, Kenya has an annual demand of 250,000 housing units but builds only 50,000 units due to financing bottlenecks. The China-built 228 housing units are said to be available to buyers through a transparent process for low to middle-income earners.

Xinhua news release, January 16, 2020

Started in 2016, the Technical and Professional Agricultural High School in Yabassi offers a modern technical infrastructure which helps to train young Camerooneans in basic technologies even before they enter a university. The high school with an enrolment of 200 students is a gift from China worth 7.5 billion FCFA (or ~11 million €), with one billion FCFA (~15 million €) being counterpart funding by Cameroon, http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0818/c90000-9257351.html

Xinhua news release, January 17, 2020

ZTE and MTN Uganda have carried out a 5G technology trial in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, on January 17, in the presence of Uganda’s Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. According to Uganda government sources, the country might become the first in East Africa to have a standalone 5G technology and the third in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria.

Xinhua news release, January 18, 2020

Acording to a talk at Beijing Cyber Security Conference, around 48.5 percent of China’s government agencies and 56.3 percent centrally-administered state-owned enterprises have deployed security operation centers, and the response time to security events has been reduced to less than one hour from about three days in 2016.

In the first half of 2019, more than 100 million enterprises’ computers had security software installed, while the number in 2016 was around 60 million. The repair cycle for computer system vulnerabilities has dropped to 16 days from 35 days in 2016. In a special campain, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and State Administration for Market Regulation evaluated more than 400 popular apps on the collection of personal data, and around 100 apps were asked to make improvements in data protection.

Xinhua-net news release, September 10, 2019

After a visit of China’s Prime Minister LI Keqiang to Japan, the development of hydrogen-based fuel cell cars in China gains momentum. The official development plan now provides for 50,000 vehicles by 2025, and car manufacturers such as BAIC, SAIC, Great Wall Motors and Dongfeng are now involved in the development of hydrogen-powered passenger cars, partially based on free licenses from Toyota, which put this development on the road in 2014 with the Toyota Mirai. The necessary infrastructure for hydrogen production and refuelling is to be created within the framework of a China Hydrogen Fuel Cell Alliance 中国氢燃料电池联盟, and between 2019 and 2021 more than 40 hydrogen refuelling stations are to be set up in the Yangtze Delta around Shanghai alone. Two excellent reviews by JETRO (in Japanese) and by Elektroauto News (in German) cover the outlook for the coming years.

https://www.jetro.go.jp/biz/areareports/2019/e4192697fec6cd9e.html