Chinese Government provides a grant for the Djibouti Luban Workshop

In April 2017, Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College proposed that a Luban Workshop be constructed in Djibouti. Luban Workshops are, in a vein similar to Confucius Institutes, Chinese Government-financed vocational training institutes. In March 2018, the Tianjin Municipal Government included the Djibouti Luban Workshop in its list of construction projects. Then, in early April 2018, Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College signed a memorandum of cooperation with Djiboutian Ministry of National and Higher Education for the Luban Workshop. In May 2018, Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College set up a working group to plan and eventually construct the Luban Workshop. Then, on September 3, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to build 10 Luban Workshops in Africa to provide vocational skills training to local youths. Soon thereafter, the Chinese Government provided a grant to finance for the Djibouti Luban Workshop, the first Luban Workshop in Africa. The monetary value of this grant is unknown. The Djibouti Luban Workshop was located at Djibouti Industrial and Commercial School (French: Lycée Industriel et Commercial de Djibouti (LIC)). The workshop was divided into two parts, one covering rail transit and the other covering logistics and trade. There were seven training rooms over a total of 1,000 square meters. The educational model of the Luban Workshop, such as the teaching concepts, models, courses, as well as the teaching equipment and materials, all originated from Tianjin. The workshop included a railway operation teaching area, a locomotive driving simulation teaching area, a model railway display area, research areas, a panoramic perception training area, a cognitive training operation area, and a logistics warehouse simulation area. The workshop also featured auxiliary spaces at the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (DIFTZ) and the Nagad Railway Station to allow for practical and pre-job training of students. The workshop offered diplomas for students and worked closely with companies. The Luban Workshop was expected to help Djibouti become a regional shipping and commercial center by 2035, and specifically improve Djibouti's modern railway system (which was constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Group, which expected the workshop would train future employees). China Civil Engineering Construction Group was responsible for the construction of the school, while Tianjin The First Commercial School and Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College provided academic support, with Tianjin First College of Commerce specifically supporting the school's international trade and logistics course and Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College specifically supporting teaching in railway engineering and railway operation and management, two new majors at Djibouti Industrial and Commercial School. The Tianjin Municipal Government and Djibouti's Ministry of National and Higher Education were also involved in project implementation. The opening ceremony of Djibouti Luban Workshop was held on March 28, 2019 in a ceremony attended by President of Djibouti Ismaïl Omar Guelle.

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 吉布提鲁班工坊. The French project title is Atelier Luban de Djibouti. In late 2017, the Chinese Government and the Government of Djibouti signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) in which the Chinese Government committed grant funding to Djibouti for a vocational training center in the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (DIFTZ) and the construction of 500 social housing units (see linked project ID#85711 and source "Le Président Guelleh et xi jinping réteirènt leur volanté d'intensifier les échanges économiques et commerciaux entre les deux pays"). It is unclear whether this ETCA committed financing to the Djibouti Luban Workshop, as it was not located (primarily) in DIFTZ. Similarly, it is unclear when the Chinese Government formally committed to financing this project; a memorandum was signed in April 2018, and it seems by Xi's September 2018 announced that the project had been committed to. In the absence of more information, AidData has coded the announcement date of the Luban Workshops in Africa as the commitment date, September 3, 2018, and checked the committment_date_estimated? field. While no sources explicitly name this as grant, it was eventually such and has been coded accordingly.

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

8