Standing in the business center of Addis Ababa and looking up, the 209 meter high new headquarters building of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia shines with a diamond-like sheen in the plateau sunshine. This tallest building in East Africa used to be the skyline left by China for Ethiopia, but now it has gained another identity - a model intelligent building that has been moved into classrooms. On September 19, 2026, the Luban Workshop Intelligent Building Technology Training Base in Ethiopia was unveiled and launched in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, allowing local youth to systematically experience the gateway to intelligent buildings, energy-saving solutions, and digital systems for the first time.

Five years of deep cultivation and talent development

The story begins in 2021. That year, the Ethiopian Luban Workshop, jointly established by Tianjin Vocational and Technical Normal University and the Ethiopian side, was officially unveiled and settled on the campus of the Federal Vocational and Technical Training Institute in the northeast of the capital. Over the past five years, the workshop has focused on key areas such as industrial sensors, mechatronics integration, and industrial robots, aligning the teaching mode of Chinese vocational education with local industrial needs and providing a large number of local talents for Ethiopia's industrialization construction. The scene of precise grasping, handling, and assembly of robotic arms is now an ordinary daily occurrence in this workshop.

Landmark building transformed into classroom

The intelligent building technology training base launched this time has directly placed the classroom on real engineering projects. The base relies on the landmark project of the new headquarters building of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia to promote the close connection between vocational education and engineering practice. During the construction of the building, the contractor combined the characteristics of high altitude and abundant sunshine in the local area to install 112 solar powered lamps outdoors and hundreds of light sensors indoors. The lamps can automatically adjust their brightness according to the intensity of sunlight, achieving an overall energy saving of about 30%; In response to the local water quality being too hard and containing many impurities, air source heat pumps are used for heating and a softened water system is added to further reduce energy consumption. These green wisdom originally written in the construction plan have now become practical training materials for students.

Three parties work together to cultivate craftsmen

The base is jointly built by Tianjin Vocational and Technical Normal University, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division North China Company, and Ethiopian Federal Vocational and Technical Training Institute. It adopts a cooperation model of Chinese universities, Ethiopian vocational colleges, and Chinese funded enterprises, organically combining China's vocational education experience, intelligent building technology, and enterprise engineering practice. Liu Xiaoguang, a public counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, stated that this year is the Year of Cultural Exchange between China and Africa. The establishment of this training base is a practical measure to practice the concept of cultural exchange between China and Africa, deepen cooperation in vocational education between China and Ethiopia, and further extend and expand the construction of the Luban Workshop in Ethiopia. Zheng Qingchun, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Tianjin Vocational and Technical Normal University, said in a video speech that the official unveiling and opening of the Intelligent Building Technology Training Base is not only an important business expansion for Luban Workshop towards the development of Ethiopian industries, but also another new milestone in the process of vocational education cooperation between China and Ethiopia. Zedale Teklu, Vice President of the Ethiopian Federal Vocational and Technical Training Institute, stated that as Ethiopia accelerates its digital transformation, intelligent buildings, intelligent systems, and energy-saving solutions are redefining the country's industries. This transformation requires talents with solid theoretical knowledge and practical skills, and the training base is a direct response to this demand.

Since the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation in 2018 proposed the establishment of Luban workshops in Africa, and now 17 Luban workshops have taken root in 15 African countries, China's vocational education has always stepped on the pace of African industrial upgrading. This new course in Ethiopia is the latest landmark on this road.Editor/Yang Meiling