International growth and strategic partnerships were high on the agenda as the University of Johannesburg (UJ) successfully hosted the inaugural Jiangsu-Africa Cooperation Alliance Summit last week (23 October 2026). Borne out of a desire to grow Sino-African academic relations, the summit is the realization of a decade of strategic partnerships, research collaboration and cultural exchanges between the alliances founding partners, UJ and Nanjing Tech University, China.
Delivering the keynote address, UJ Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi began by tracing the roots of the Alliance to a meeting in the Jiangsu Province, China which led to the summit. “Almost exactly a year ago in Suzhou, the Jiangsu- Africa University Cooperation Alliance was launched. Nanjing Tech University and UJ initiated [the alliance] under the guidance of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, 13 Jiangsu Universities joined forces with more than 20 African institutions from 13 countries,” he said.
Professor Mpedi is the co-chair of the Jiangsu-Africa University Cooperation Alliance. He outlined the purpose of the alliance, saying that it was particularly valuable to the African institutions as it creates opportunities to partner with leading Chinese institutions. It enables meaningful exchange of ideas and skills. He emphasized that it is with this spirit, that the summit is convened.
“The theme before us is Sino-Africa Higher Education Partnerships for the Future, jointly advancing research, teaching, learning, and innovation. This summit comes at an appropriate time. This year marks 70 years of China-Africa diplomatic relations. It is also four years to 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
“As I’ve written for various African and Chinese publications, the countries of the Global South face remarkably similar challenges, including infrastructure gaps, youth unemployment, climate vulnerability, and technology gaps. When one of us finds a solution, it creates a path that others can adapt”.
Professor Jian Juncheng, President Nanjing Tech University and co-chair of the Jiangsu-Africa Cooperation Alliance, reiterated in his keynote address the importance of alliance, and the work that had already been done to promote Sino-Africa University cooperation and skills exchanges.
“The friendship between China and Africa has a long history. As an important force of the Global South, our relations have entered a new stage of building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era,” he said.
Professor Juncheng added that the partnership will contribute to building an aligned system for educational cooperation.
“We aim to create an open and shared platform for exchanges and establish long term mechanisms for sustained development so as to share quality resources on a larger scale and promote mutual learning among civilisations in broader fields.”
Discussions then went into three panels that looked at various topical subjects for the gathering, starting with a panel discussion chaired by Professor Mpedi, featuring the senior leadership of four African Universities as well as one Chinese University. For that discussion, the topic was around the impact of Sino-Africa partnerships and Jointly Advancing Research, Teaching, Learning and Innovation.
The other two panels, made up of strategic partners including Her Excellency Ms. Karima Bardaoui, Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to South Africa, imminent scholar and professor Arthur Mutambara Director, Institute for the Future of Knowledge at UJ, Neo Mofokeng, Programme Analyst: UN Women South Africa as well as Levy Maduse, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO South Africa) and Prof Zhou Feng, Dean of Research Institute, Nanjing Tech University focused on the progress that Africa has made in attaining Sustainable Development through the SDGs.
The Alliance intends to have more collaborative efforts such as this summit in the future.
