Monday saw the launch of a Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi. This is part of a plan by the governments of China and Kenya to further teaching of Chinese languages and this will be through a special certificate course offered by the UoN’s department of linguistics, which is currently accepting applications for classes beginning in May 2006.

China is currently the fastest growing destination for American foreign exchange students – “China is a job market, twenty years ago only those interested in Chinese literature would study Chinese language. Now all professions have opened up.”. There are 120 schools in 16 African countries that are serving over 8,000 Africans learning the language.