China is helping script a new chapter in development in the Global South by strengthening not only infrastructure, but also education and cultural exchanges. While construction of bridges, railways and ports always makes headlines, another kind of bridge — built using language, culture and shared learning — is proving equally transformative.

Notably, China's growing role in educational cooperation — through Confucius Institutes and support for universities establishing Chinese language departments — is increasing opportunities for women.

Confucius Institutes, through scholarships, open pathways to higher education. A majority of students in these programs are women, reflecting a global trend of women outnumbering men in higher education in languages and humanities.

Education empowers women. It enables women to challenge inequality, participate in economic activities and influence policy.

In African countries — particularly in Muslim-majority societies such as Sudan and Egypt — women's empowerment can be a delicate topic. Western-led initiatives face resistance, as they are often viewed as a moral or cultural intrusion. In contrast, China's approach, centered on cultural exchange and mutual learning, helps create space for women's advancement within familiar cultural frameworks.

Inside Chinese language classrooms, African women are learning not only Mandarin but also new ways to broaden their horizon and envision their future. By sharing their experiences, Chinese teachers are enabling change without confronting local customs. When a Sudanese woman masters Chinese and becomes a teacher, translator, or entrepreneur, she becomes a living symbol of possibility.

Between 2015 and 2022, Yao Xiaolin taught at both the Chinese Language Department of Sudan's University of Khartoum and its affiliated Confucius Institute. She observed that women accounted for nearly three-fourths of her students, and those who graduated not only enjoyed stronger employment prospects but also commanded higher salaries than peers from other liberal arts disciplines.

During the ongoing civil war, which erupted on April 15, 2023, several of Yao's former students secured interpreter jobs in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where Chinese companies have a strong presence. That their linguistic skills helped them escape the ravages of war speaks of the life-altering potential of education.

Some of her students came to China before and during the war through the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship, administered by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under the Ministry of Education. The scholarship offers them not only safety and education, but also the rare chance to redefine their futures amid uncertainty.

As the civil war rages on, all three Sudan-based institutes with Chinese language departments — the University of Khartoum, the Karary University and Bahri College — have moved their classes online. Their persistence is a quiet testament to the resilience of educators, many of them women, and to the enduring importance of these programs.

By the end of 2024, 77 Confucius Institutes had been established across 47 African countries, and the number continues to grow. In September, Algeria inaugurated its first Confucius Institute at the University of Algiers 2. These institutes do more than teach language; they create spaces where women can acquire skills, gain confidence and imagine new possibilities.

This model of empowerment contrasts with top-down prescriptions. It does not lecture societies on gender equality, but demonstrates it in practice. China's own journey — from poverty and exclusion to educational and economic strength — serves as an implicit example: social transformation begins when opportunities expand, quietly, steadily and inclusively.