By Yang Gan Fu Sino-African witnesses more and more co-operation and exchanges in the fields of education, culture, economy, and politics. And such Sino-African co-operation and exchanges are at their best currently. In the past 20 years, Sino-African educational co-operation has produced remarkable achievements. By the end of 2004, a total of 17 860 scholarships offered by China had been granted to students from 50 African countries. Every year now, China provides 1 200 scholarships for African countries. At the same time, China has dispatched 530 teachers to 33 African countries to assist them in developing higher and middle school education, covering many subjects ranging from science to physical education. In addition, China developed about 60 educational aid programs in 25 African countries and helped establish 23 laboratories in the fields of micro-organisms, computer science, physics and food processing, to name a few. With the rapid growth of Chinese economy, China’s international influence is increasing. As a result, more and more people across the world are learning Chinese and about Chinese culture. By the end of 2005, China had received more than 140 000 foreign students, not to speak of millions of people who are learning Chinese in other parts of the world. There seems to be a consensus that having the ability to use Chinese will enable people to do business successfully and advantageously with the world economic power China – which has made remarkable contributions to world economic development. And to be able to use Chinese becomes the key to the doors of a users’ bright future. To meet such a huge need, China has taken measures to enroll more students across the world, has published a series of books for Chinese learners, set up Chinese proficiency examination centers, and dispatched more qualified Chinese teachers to other countries. More higher education institutes are permitted to teach foreign students Chinese in China. A higher education institute based in Beijing specializing in teaching Chinese to foreign students – Beijing Language and Culture University has become the dream university of foreign students to learn Mandarin. The university, as any other universities in China, plays an important role in intensifying and improving the management of foreign students and promoting their Chinese language. As in other parts of the world, the African continent has also enthusiastically displayed a intense interest in Chinese culture and the Chinese language – a promising business language for the future. One typical characteristic of Sino-African educational collaboration lies in an increasing number of African students learning Chinese and more Chinese language teachers being dispatched to African countries. The increasing popularity of learning Chinese in Africa is unprecedented. As in America where many students from primary schools are keen to learn Chinese and several states have made Chinese a compulsory subject, people from African countries are also clamoring to learn Chinese. In Africa, according to the statistics from china’s Ministry of Education, there are over 8 000 African students learning Chinese and the number is still on the rise daily, especially after the Chinese president’s state visits to eight African countries early this year. Nearly 120 schools in 16 African countries had opened Chinese courses by July 1, 2005, and China has sent nearly 200 teachers to Africa. To meet the requirements of African countries, the Chinese government has also helped establish language laboratories in Cameroon, Egypt, Mauritius, Tunisia, and Mauritania. Moreover, a large of number of Chinese books and research materials have been donated to Africa. In Africa, several Chinese language institutes have been founded for the purpose of effective and efficient performance of Chinese studies. The first of its kind in Africa is the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. It was officially launched in December 2005. It has admitted more and more students from this East Africa country to study Chinese language and culture. Due to its limited resources and lack of lecturers, the Institute has to restrict the number of students who want to take the Chinese course. As early as 30 years ago, the Republic of Congo, one of the first African countries to open Chinese courses in its high schools, started its Chinese course in high school. The Chinese Cultural Center in the Egyptian capital of Cairo set up a three-month course of Chinese language learning in September 2003 to teach Egyptian learners some basic Chinese and culture. Apart from the cultural center, some Egyptian universities have set up Chinese-language departments in recent years, such as Cairo University, Al-Azhar University and Ain Shame University. These threes universities have enrolled more than 700 Egyptian students learning Chinese language and culture. In September 2006, the Office of the Chinese Language Council International signed a letter of intent with Cairo University to jointly set up a Confucius Institute. In South Africa, there are two universities and 20 schools that offer Chinese courses. The Confucius Institute at the University of Stellenbosch has attracted more and more students. This Institute now has a four-year curriculum for university graduates. The Confucius Institute has also been set up in Rwanda and Zimbabwe, while other African nations are also looking to launch such institutes in their universities and colleges. In Namibia, the Chinese are also opening a new chapter. In 2006, just two weeks after the public notice offering a Chinese learning course at UNAM in newspapers, more than 50 students expressed their interest to learn Chinese. A dozen Namibians have learned Chinese with the writer. The UNAM Center for Chinese Studies is under planning. The first stakeholders meeting of UNAM Center for Chinese Studies was held on April 5, 2007. It is hoped that the Center will promote interdisciplinary research on China and other Asian countries as well. As also the Vice Chancellor of UNAM, Prof. Hangula believes in an ever growing and global world, such a center will also trigger greater understanding of Asian cultures, language and values within Namibia and the SADC. On April 16, 2007, the Mandarin class kicked off in the Language Center at UNAM. Nearly 20 students registered for the class. Among them, there are lawyers, teachers, government officials, UNAM students and business people. Students are full of interest. Chinese culture is always a part of a Chinese learning program. With its 5 000 years of civilization, Chinese culture is has a rich contents accommodating many elements of foreign cultures. Chinese culture to some extent shares similarities with African cultures in terms of politeness, respect for power, for older people, seeking harmonious social development, friendliness and honesty, hospitable to out-groups and in-groups, to name but a few. Of course, cultural differences also exist between China and Africa: Africans like a direct style of communication whereas Chinese are more indirect; Africans are more individualists while Chinese are collectivists; Africans in general are self-face concerned whereas Chinese are other-face concerned. These differences in cultural dimensions surely contribute to intercultural miscommunication which in fact has been observed in the areas of work attitudes, catering culture, daily trade activities, building industry, education, religion, gender, age, and patterns of thought. These differences will thus further produce a negative impact on business communication. However, with the help of developing cultural awareness, these potential ‘conflict’ areas can be solved. Africans are being equipped with the rich Chinese culture in their Chinese learning programme through the Chinese centers or Confucius Institutes being operated in Africa. As an influentual core of the Chinese culture, harmony plays its key role in the Sino-Africa relations. Sino-African links, with more and more Africans being able to use Chinese, will be strengthened. Chinese language, along with its culture, will create more promising opportunities for our African friends in Africa, China and other parts of the world. Sino-African education co-operation and Chinese studies in Africa will both produce fruitful results.