Insights | World Bank official: China's experience offers useful lessons for Africa’s higher education and innovation

In recent years, notable deepening and institutionalization of higher education cooperation between African countries and China has offered useful lessons for Africa’s higher education development, Education Practice Manager for Western and Central Africa of the World Bank Scherezad Latif told China News Network on Saturday at 2025 World University Presidents Forum (WUPF) in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.

She discussed the partnership that the China Association of Higher Education (CAHE) has established with African universities.

Scherezad Latif, education practice manager for Western and Central Africa of the World Bank, presents at 2025 World University Presidents Forum in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province on Nov. 8, 2025. (Photo: China News Network/Gong Weiwei)

Latif said that in 2022, the Association of African Universities (AAU) and CAHE signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen Africa-China university linkages to promote joint research and expand access to scholarships and academic exchanges.

This cooperation set the stage for a more structured relationship between African and Chinese universities, which aims to connect 20 Chinese universities to 20 African institutions across 17 countries on the African continent for applied research and skills, Latif said.

China has made impressive progress, and there is so much to learn from China, Latif noted.

She highlighted China’s valuable experience in linking universities with industry and turning research into innovation and noted that these efforts offer useful lessons for Africa’s higher education development.

China is a major partner in South-South cooperation, supporting research and skills training programs in Africa that contribute to the continent’s efforts to drive innovation in the education sector, Latif concluded.