Feature: Ex-students body in Zambia links graduates to Chinese firms

LUSAKA, Oct. 20  — Getting a job for students coming from universities in Zambia is a tall order that leaves many graduates either frustrated or ending up doing jobs that are not in line with their profession.
But for students who have studied at various universities in China, the situation is somehow different, due to the work of an association formed to advance and look into the welfare of Zambian students after graduating from universities in China.
This has also been made easier by the growing number of Chinese companies operating in Zambia. According to the Chinese embassy in Zambia, there are over 600 Chinese enterprises operating in the southern African nation.
Friday Mulenga, the President of the Zambia China Old Students Association (ZACOSA), said the association has played a key role in linking the students graduating from Chinese universities to Chinese firms operating in Zambia.
“As an association, since 2014 we have been instrumental in providing the link between Chinese companies and those students that graduate from China. I think that in that area we would say we have scored a lot of success,” he said in an interview.
This, he added, has also been made easy through the creation of a database of all Zambian students graduating from China who are later linked to Chinese firms looking for professionals in various fields.
According to him, Chinese enterprises operating in Zambia usually make inquiries on various skilled manpower they can employ from the association.
While acknowledging the strides made so far, Mulenga feels a lot more needs to be done in order to increase the association’s membership.
According to him, the association currently has 150 active members even if over 4,000 Zambians have studied in China.
The association, he said, will be embarking on a recruitment drive for more members by opening up centres in all the country’s 10 provinces as it is currently only based in Lusaka, the country’s capital.
Mulenga feels that the association is doing a lot in promoting bilateral ties between the two countries by providing information to prospective students intending to study in China as well as promoting cultural exchanges.
Njavwa Sinkala-Nambela, who studied Chinese language and culture and graduated in 2019, says studying in China has made it easy for her to get a job after graduating.
Nambela, who is currently a Chinese language teacher at the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia (UNZA), said she did not face any challenges in finding a job because there are many job opportunities in Chinese-owned enterprises.
She encouraged Zambians to study the Chinese language and culture because of the increased levels of interactions between the peoples of the two countries due to enhanced ties.
According to her, learning the Chinese language will go a long way in bridging the gap between the people of the two countries and defusing a lot of misunderstandings.
“If you want to be the bridge between China and Zambia, learn Chinese. If you want to be able to negotiate properly, learn their language so that you speak their language and you will be able to negotiate properly,” she said.  (Xinhua)