Cameroon Partners with Chinese Company for Certification of Engineering Students

The Ministry of Higher Education has entered a strategic partnership with the state-owned China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC) that will enable university students to acquire hands-on training and certification in the construction of large-scale infrastructures.

The framework agreement, titled the “MINESUP Certification Program,” is being formalized this Tuesday, January 13, in Yaounde by the Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, and representatives of the company.

The program aims to professionalize university education in Cameroon and improve graduate employability by providing certified skills training in large-scale infrastructure construction.

“In concrete terms, this certification program introduces a major innovation to our university landscape: Dual Qualification,” stated Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo in a statement.

“From now on, students will not only graduate with a Diploma attesting to their knowledge (academic qualification), but also with a Certification attesting to their expertise, issued by a world leader in the construction of large-scale infrastructures.”

This addresses a gap Cameroon’s higher education system, which has often been described as highly theoretical and contributing to a mismatch between graduate skills and labor market needs.

The China First Highway Engineering Company is a global leader in constructing roads, bridges, high-speed railways, tunnels, and high-rise buildings. Among its key projects is the Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway designed to operate in extreme low temperatures, with trains running at speeds up to 300 km/h.