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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria, has said that as a Chinese company deeply rooted in Nigeria, it deeply valued its ties with local communities.
CCECC Deputy Managing Director, Zhou Dongping, stated this during the Sixth China-Africa Special Session of Global Link for Youth Actions held in Abuja.
Addressing the audience comprised of young people from China and Africa, both in person and online, Zhou said young people were the future of bilateral cooperation and an important force in advancing exchanges and practical collaboration between the two sides.
He recalled that year 2026 marked the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, adding that under the topic of ‘Promoting China-Africa Youth Exchange and Advancing Practical Youth Cooperation,’ both parties would share experience, showcase projects, and connect with potential partners, helping more youth initiatives move from ideas to implementation.
“Today is both an exchange among young people and an opportunity to turn common ground into action and ideas into cooperation.
“As a Chinese company deeply rooted in Nigeria, CCECC deeply values its ties with local communities. We know that skilled people are essential to every project and that young people are vital to the long-term development of our cooperation. As our Chinese and Nigerian colleagues exchange technical knowledge, share experience, and solve problems together, they also deepen mutual understanding and build trust,” Zhou said.
The CCECC Deputy Managing Director further said CCECC is actively expanding railway vocational education and training to help more young Nigerians gain practical job skills, improve their employment prospects and advance their careers.
He stated that by training local railway professionals, the company also aimed to strengthen its local workforce and support the long-term development of Nigeria’s railway sector.
“For enterprises, promoting vocational education helps align talent development with workplace needs. For young people, mastering a practical skill is an important first step towards employment and wider opportunities. We hope to connect our practical experience more closely with young people’s development needs, so that classroom learning can be applied to the real job market.
“Young people are full of ideas and passion, but they also need opportunities to put their ideas into practice, along with professional guidance and partners. Through this event, we hope to better understand the actual needs of youth and to identify practical areas where enterprises can participate, to make projects move from planning to implementation,” he added.
Zhou also encouraged the youths to make full use of the platform, speak openly and learn from one another, even as he urged them to start with a concrete project, a skills-sharing session or a practical partnership, and turn the connections into joint action.
He concluded that drawing on CCECC’s business experience and resources, CCECC Nigeria Limited is ready to work with partners to explore opportunities that helped young people build skills and gain practical experience, and to contribute to youth exchange and cooperation between China and Africa.
In his remarks, the Founder/Director of The King’s Patriots Development Foundation (KPDF), Jude Isaac Dahilo, said the objective of the event was to see how young Africans who have talents, who have businesses can see opportunities in what China is doing and present themselves for the opportunities.
“So, we are also telling China, look, we have young people, talented people who have businesses. How do you come in? How do you help their businesses to grow? And that’s what this event is about. And then, it will also proceed to forming a pool where they can choose people to visit China to learn one or two things after this event,” Dahilo said.
