Mekelle University delegation visits Wuhan University on Aug 12.

A delegation led by Abdelkader Kedir Biadgligne, vice-president of Mekelle University in Ethiopia, visited Wuhan University (WHU) on Aug 12 and met with Yuan Yufeng, vice-president of WHU.

Yuan extended a warm welcome to the delegation and provided a brief overview of the university's development, highlighting the long-standing and robust foundation of its cooperation with African institutions — having trained over 3,000 African students since 2000.

Yuan suggested strengthening collaboration between the two universities in areas such as hybrid rice, water resources and hydropower, and public health. He also introduced WHU's first cooperative educational institution, the Wuhan-Benha Graduate School, which has begun enrolling students.

The first cohort will commence their studies this September, and he invited outstanding students from Mekelle University to join the program.

Biadgligne expressed gratitude for the warm reception and emphasized the vast potential for collaboration between the two institutions, showing interest in developing both long-term and short-term student exchange programs, as well as graduate-level talent development.

He proposed exploring research collaborations in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, with the hope of achieving practical outcomes through joint efforts.

Mekelle University, founded in 1991, is Ethiopia's second-ranked comprehensive public university and the top-ranked in the country for science and engineering.