Two colleges win Sh10m manufacturing contract
Meru Technical College and Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) have emerged winners of a shared manufacturing contract worth $100,000 (Sh10 million), which will see them produce and export Africa-made parts to China.
The two colleges emerged winners after weeks of intense training and competition under the Africa Tech Challenge (ATC) Season 6, which brought together participants from eight African countries in Nairobi.
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Zambia participated. The top three winners of ATC Season 6 were Oscar Kimathi Kithinji from Meru Technical College, Apollo Godwin and Christopher Mbembela from DIT and were awarded full scholarships to study in China.
Other winners were Kenya Technical Trainers College, Kabete National Polytechnic and Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology, each of whom will receive Jin Yetao Scholarship worth Sh500,000.
The sixth edition of ATC was launched on August 1 and it is aimed at developing skills towards advancing and realising Africa’s development agenda. There were 48 participants and 16 trainers making up 17 teams in the competition.
Participants underwent a five-week training on Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and a final week of competition to test skills acquired.
During the competition, Kenya sought to retain its record having won the manufacturing contracts in the previous seasons and was awarded a similar one alongside Tanzania.
TVET PS Kevit Desai said ATC is geared towards empowering the youth by upgrading their technology and information technology skills that will enable them to get internship and jobs and decreasing the country’s huge unemployment rate.
AVIC International Holding Corporation VP of International Affairs, Jin Shaohua said ATC’s aspiration is to give back to Africa, to benefit the young people of Africa and provide the African youth with the possibility of change.
In the six years the competition has been held, Shaohua said the project’s original intention has been upheld. So far, eight countries, 203 institutes and 701 contestants have benefitted from ATC.
