Ghanaian president hails deepening cultural, educational exchanges with China

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has hailed the growing educational and cultural exchanges his country is enjoying with China, highlighting the role of Confucius Institutes and Chinese-funded infrastructure in building a stronger skilled workforce.

Mahama was speaking in an exclusive interview with the China Media Group (CMG) which aired on Friday. The Ghanaian President visited Beijing back in October to attend the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, and also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip, with both leaders stressing the long history of friendship between the two nations.

In the CMG interview, Mahama said that the three Confucius Institutes established in the cities of Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast are helping to cement exchanges and open up new opportunities for young people, noting that the enthusiasm for learning Chinese is rapidly spreading across Ghana, reflecting a broader cultural and educational engagement between the two sides.

"[When students return from training programs in China,] they come back with the skills that they acquired in China. And there's a good colony of Chinese speakers. And so it's interesting, when Chinese companies come in and establish industries, sometimes they don't need to bring Chinese people to Ghana, they find a pool of Ghanaians who are qualified and can speak Chinese. So it makes it very easy for them to employ them and be able to carry out their work," Mahama said.

He also drew attention to China's contribution to Ghana's higher education sector, singling out the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Volta Region, which is helping nurture a new generation of medical professionals.

"The campus of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, that's training a lot of doctors, paramedics and other specialists. [It] was funded by China and that is one of our public universities that has a good reputation and is performing very well. And that was based on friendship," Mahama said.

Ghanaian president hails deepening cultural, educational exchanges with China

A China Media Group (CMG) reporter helped evacuate Chinese nationals stranded at Dubai International Airport before it was damaged in an ''incident" early on Sunday morning.

The reporter, who went to the airport by car to investigate flight delays, met several stranded Chinese nationals at the airport who had been unable to leave on their scheduled flights as the Middle East conflict forced airlines to stall operations.

The Chinese passengers said after they arrived a little before 19:00, the check-in counter was closed, raising their concern that the airport might be taken over by the military.

"I was thinking of finding some chairs for the kids to sleep on before going back to ask what was going on. At first, the airport staff offered to help, but then some people who looked like soldiers came and told us to leave," said a Chinese passenger.

Footage from the reporter showed that the area outside the airport was almost deserted, with very few vehicles. Public transportation had been suspended early, and only police cars were parked on both sides of the road, with emergency staff signaling all civilian vehicles to leave immediately.

Dubai Airports confirmed that a concourse at Dubai International Airport later sustained minor damage in what it referred to as an “incident”. Emergency response teams were immediately deployed and were managing the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities. Aviation sources told Reuters news agency that one of the terminals had been damaged during an overnight Iranian attack.

The Dubai Media Office said that four staff members sustained injuries and received prompt medical attention.

CMG reporter helps evacuate Chinese nationals from Dubai airport