We, Migrants Podcast Podcast

Thanks to Chinese state scholarships, African students form new elite

In China, the number of African students is increasing by more than 35% each year. A true tool of Chinese soft power, the 50,000 scholarships distributed in 2018 by the communist regime have a huge appeal for young graduates of the continent. A fairly well-integrated African elite, even if the question of the after-years is very quickly raised, because it is difficult to stay in China once its course has been completed. Our permanent special correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde, portrays Fabrice Mfuamba, a young Congolese engineer in Beijing.

  • Fabrice Mfuamba is 29 years old. After studying engineering in Kinshasa, he won a scholarship at the age of 23 to study in China. After a master's degree in Telecommunications Sciences, he is due to finish his doctorate at Beihang University next year.
    Stéphane Lagarde / RFI

  • At the treasure hairdressing salon in Beijing, meeting place of the African diaspora. On the wall, photos of African players in the Chinese championship. Trésor was himself a footballer in the DRC, before switching to scissors and catering.
    Stéphane Lagarde / RFI

  • Fabrice Mfuamba quickly had to put himself in Mandarin, which with English now allows him to conduct his research.
    Stéphane Lagarde / RFI

  • This young engineer whose father is director of the Congolese national television (Democratic Republic of Congo) is part of the new African elite that we meet in Chinese cities, especially in Shanghai and Beijing.
    Stéphane Lagarde / RFI

  • Fabrice Mfuamba at the stadium.
    Stéphane Lagarde / RFI

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