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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Njanjo Ekoungkang Aimee Laure
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DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2026.03.004
University of Bertoua, Bertoua, Cameroon
The economic influence of China is going global and it is noticeable in Africa where she has established a south-south cooperation based on trade agreements and commercial exchanges. China’s presence in Africa competes that of the continent traditional partners as she has become one of its main development partners, with an increasing number of official development assistance projects. Considering its growing influence over the African continent, China has decided to extend its soft power by diversifying its cooperation axes now based on medicine, culture, and education. She has taken an example of western international organizations and countries acting in human resources development in Africa and intends to contribute to the development of a knowledge society on this continent. China is thereby changing the face of her diplomacy in Africa by reinventing its cooperation and partnership model based on education. This paper highlights the role of China in the transformation of global education in Africa by taking Cameroon as case study. It analyzes education programs, scholarships, and training centers of China in Cameroon as well as impacts of this new cooperation on national education and local development. It is a qualitative analysis that uses content analysis to illustrate the impact of education policy in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that extends beyond the traditional Silk Road to encompass the African continent. The BRI has foster education cooperation between China and Africa partners playing a significant role in the transformation of national education systems in African countries especially in Cameroon; the side effect of this enhanced cooperation has been the challenge of education traditional partners of the continent and the expansion of Chinese soft power.
knowledge society, Belt and Road Initiative, official development assistance, education, cooperation
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