Kenya hosted the second African edition of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition, bringing together young innovators from across the continent to showcase practical solutions to challenges including food security, healthcare, biotechnology and sustainable agriculture.

The competition is organized by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China together with 11 other institutions. 

First launched in China, the event expanded overseas in 2025, with Kenya becoming the first country outside China to host the African regional competition. Following the inaugural African edition last year, Kenya once again staged the event this year.

The competition encourages university students to translate classroom learning into innovative solutions for real-world problems while strengthening educational and scientific cooperation between Africa and China.

Kenyan education officials said supporting young innovators is crucial given Africa's youthful population.

"I think one of the most important things for us is really to look at ways and means of how we can be able to support our youth," a Kenyan education official said. "In Kenya, 75% of the population is aged 35 and below, while Africa has almost 400 million young people in the same age bracket. We want to nurture their creativity and provide mentorship by helping them develop their talents," said Professor Shaukat Abdulrazak, Kenya's Principal Secretary for the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation.

Professor Abdulrazak said the longstanding partnership between Africa and China, and between Kenya and China since independence, continues to create opportunities for cooperation in education, innovation and skills development.

Nanjing Agricultural University Vice President, Professor Feng Shuyi said the competition pushes students beyond academic theory by requiring them to develop practical solutions to societal challenges.

"The competition encourages university students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-world problems," Feng said. 

Many of the projects presented focused on improving food security, tackling water shortages, preventing crop diseases and advancing healthcare technologies.

Professor Abdulrazak said that the competition gives students an opportunity to use innovation and technology to solve problems affecting communities.

"I was very impressed to see some of the projects related to health, including traditional Chinese medicine that is being implemented by the African younger generation. We also saw areas of biotechnology aimed at enhancing food safety and food security," Prof. Abdulrazak said.

Among the gold medal-winning projects was one from Malawi's Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, which showcased an innovation designed to improve agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers. Ufulu Kampinga, a student at the university, said the project, titled Malawi Youth Hope Seeds in Africa Science and Technology Backyard Entrepreneurship Project, aims to improve farmers' incomes, nutrition and crop production.

"Our project is helping smallholder farmers in Malawi earn more, eat enough and eat better," Kampinga said. "We encourage practices such as intercropping maize with soybeans to improve nutrition while increasing harvests so farmers can strengthen their food security throughout the year."

Fellow student Monica Didas said the team developed the project to address persistent farming challenges.

"Using this technology and the model introduced through China's support, we have been able to overcome some of those challenges," Didas said. 

The competition also highlighted collaboration in healthcare and traditional medicine.

Hu Zijing, an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg who teaches traditional Chinese medicine, said the initiative strengthens exchanges between African and Chinese students.

"This platform enhances mutual understanding and collaboration between young people from Africa and China," Hu said. "It enables students to showcase their work, better understand one another and develop an international outlook."

He added that the goal extends beyond introducing traditional Chinese medicine in Africa.

"We want to integrate Chinese medicine with African traditional medicine because Africa also has a very long history of traditional medicine," he said.

University of Johannesburg student Rabone Monama demonstrated a traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation model used to help patients with arthritis, dysmenorrhea and other pain-related conditions.

Monama said studying traditional Chinese medicine had taught her that healthcare extends beyond medication.

"We learn from nature how we live, how we eat and how we manage our emotions," she said. "The food we eat is also medicine. We can learn to take care of ourselves through healthy lifestyles before medical intervention becomes necessary."

Fellow student Elina Hlatshwayo said participating in the competition helped her develop skills beyond her academic training.

"Our course is heavily focused on clinical studies and traditional Chinese medicine, so this project allowed me to explore the technical aspects, including physics and chemistry," Hlatshwayo said. 

Other participating institutions included Kenya's Egerton University and Kabarak University, alongside Uganda's Makerere University.

Organizers say the competition continues to provide a platform for African and Chinese university students to collaborate, exchange ideas and develop innovations capable of addressing shared development challenges while preparing the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

(Video Editor Kelvin Mokaya contributed to this report.)