Two trains run at the Abuja Rail Mass Transit at the Nigerian capital of Abuja in July. Photo: Courtesy of CCECC

When Issah Abiola was a child in the 1990s, she saw a train passing through her neighborhood in Nigeria. The rumbling sound of the railway immediately arose her interests and she asked her dad a question, "The train was so long. Is it driven by a person?" Her dad answered, "Yes." "I hoped that one day, I could be a train driver," Abiola shouted then. But her dad shook head and answered, "Impossible."

There was a reason behind her dad's skepticism. Only a few trains were running in Nigeria that time, and the number of woman train drivers was naught in the country. 

Thirty years later, Abiola's dream has come true. She becomes Nigeria's first woman train driver and now works on the Abuja Rail Mass Transit (ARMT) in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. 

The city metro, built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp (CCECC), a Chinese multinational construction giant, is the first rapid transit system in Nigeria and West Africa. It is also a flagship public well-being project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In May 2024, the railway officially commenced commercial operation after upgrading to a new type of diesel multiple unit manufactured in China.

On par with the ARMT development, Nigeria - the most populous country in Africa with 224 million people - has witnessed the expansion of its rail networks in recent decades under the BRI, which has largely boosted infrastructure connectivity across the African continent and driven economic development along the route. 

This year marks the 11th anniversary of the China-proposed BRI, under which China-Africa cooperation has already led to multiple fruitful results. The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be also held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. Industry insiders expect the gathering could set a new stage in bilateral cooperation, especially in areas including education, industrialization, sustainable development and emerging technologies transfer, while traditional areas for cooperation such as integrated infrastructure will be further advanced.  

A game-changer

Abiola is now in a trip to China to participate in a youth skill exchange forum. There, she is using her Chinese name "Bai Yang" which means poplar, to communicate with her peers from all over the world. 

"When I came to China, I saw the poplar tree, tall and straight, for the first time, and I immediately decided to use it as my Chinese name," Abiola told the Global Times on Wednesday. The tree also symbolizes the spirit of perseverance and striving upwards despite challenges, which in the eyes of many African people is an epitome of hard-working Chinese colleagues. 

"I admire Chinese culture's emphasis on collaboration, discipline and the constant pursuit of innovation. This cultural approach has enhanced my efficiency and helped me integrate smoothly into the team, allowing for effective and harmonious collaboration," Abiola noted.

In 2008, Abiola joined CCECC's Nigerian subsidiary, having worked as a translator, purchaser and logistics support worker before being admitted to a skill training program in 2013. She entered an upskilling course, "Gradually mastering the skills needed to operate locomotives, track maintenance vehicles, urban rail multiple units," and eventually was qualified as the only woman train driver in July 2018 to operate on the ARMT. Now, Abiola is responsible for driving the metro line between the central business district to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. 

"I love this job," Abiola said, noting that joining a Chinese company has changed her life. Not only did she fulfill her childhood dream through working at a BRI project, but she also gained the financial ability to support her retired parents and cover household expenses.

Abiola's experience offers a vivid example of how the development of BRI projects over the past 11 years has given many Nigerian youths the opportunity to work toward their dreams. 

According to a statement that CCECC sent to the Global Times, the ARMT project has made a significant contribution to talent development and technique elevation in Nigeria's transportation sector. It has created nearly 10,000 jobs locally and trained more than 3,000 professionals in rail transit construction and operations. Those professionals have played a vital role in a number of rail lines. 

"The number of train drivers in Nigeria is relatively small, with a particular shortage of highly skilled and professionally trained drivers. In the past, local train drivers had very limited access to training opportunities due to constraints in infrastructure and industry development. However, this situation has been gradually improving with the implementation and promotion of the training programs," CCECC noted. 

Issah Abiola (left), Nigeria's first female train driver, operates equipment in the driver's room of a train. Photo: Courtesy of CCECC

New cooperation stage

Likewise, the development of BRI projects has also been a "game-changer" for Nigeria and Africa as a whole, facilitating push toward industrialization while also promoting regional development and prosperity. 

As of October 2023, Chinese companies had helped built over 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, almost 1,000 bridges, 100 ports, as well as numerous hospitals and schools across Africa.

During the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018, China announced eight major initiatives in collaboration with Africa. Infrastructure connectivity and people-to-people exchange was highlighted as two focal areas. 

Over the past few years, the FOCAC has focused on small yet impactful projects that improve livelihoods, poverty alleviation, governance exchange and infrastructure development, analysts said. They anticipated that the future blueprint for China-Africa pragmatic cooperation will consolidate the current cooperation momentum and extends to more fields such as joint talent training, capacity building and emerging technologies collaboration.

Observers said that Africa is the continent with the youngest populations in the world, and that China-Africa talent development cooperation is set to help Africa transform its demographic advantage into developmental dividends.

To date, China has established over 10 Luban Workshop in Africa, a vocational education exchange platform that serves as a bridge to promote cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between China and Africa.

Abiola said the training programs are "helping us build a brighter future together and ensure that both sides benefit from the partnership."

"If one day Nigeria builds a high-speed train, I will definitely compete to become a driver. I would like to become Nigeria's first woman high-speed train driver. I also hope to join the efforts in training more young Nigerian train drivers, facilitating to build a bridge of cooperation between the two countries," she added.