The Federal Technical and Vocational Education and Training Agency in Ethiopia is situated in the northeast of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. On the first floor of its mechanical and electrical teaching building is the "Luban Workshop", a state-of-the-art facility established with assistance from China.

A student from Ethiopian Luban Workshop is seen doingperforminga practical operation task. [Photo by Huang Peizhao]

Local teacher Yonas Akele, known by his Chinese name Ai Youhan, was seen guiding several students on how to operate robots to perform diverse tasks. Under his direction, the robotic arms executed a series of precise and skillful movements: they accurately grasped objects, placed them into designated spaces, simulated industrial assembly line processes, and even wrote Chinese characters.

The Luban Workshop in Ethiopia spans an impressive 830 square meters and can accommodate 100 students simultaneously. The workshop is equipped with state-of-the-art teaching tools, including sensor detection and application training devices, industrial control training systems and more.

Based in East Africa, the Ethiopian Luban Workshop has become a designated technology and skills training center for the entire African continent in the field of artificial intelligence.

According to Teshale Berecha Yadessa, Ethiopia's state minister of labor and skills, the Ethiopian Luban Workshop serves East African vocational education as part of an integrated World Bank project and has become a pivotal base for the training of high-level teachers from 16 vocational colleges across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

In May 2023, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the Luban Workshop booth at the Ethiopian Skills Competition, where he commended the workshop's effectiveness in cultivating skilled professionals.

Ethiopia's mainstream media outlet The Herald also offered a positive assessment of the workshop's construction and training efforts in Ethiopia.

Named after Lu Ban, a structural engineer during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) who was later deified and is known in the country as the "father of carpentry", the workshops train professionals around the world.

This innovative initiative underscores China's commitment to supporting Africa's educational and industrial advancement through practical, high-quality technical training.