[Editor's Note: The Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Education Center of Nigeria is a branch of Shenmo Education Group. It was approved to join the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (WAAMA) and became a council member unit in 2021.]

On June 18th, the Nigeria Shenmo School held the 4th Shenmo Nigeria Abacus Mental Math Competition in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. After selection, 300 Shenmo Nigerian students from more than 30 partner schools participated in the final competition. At the same time, the parents of the students, the principals of the partner schools, and the chairman of the Port Harcourt Private Primary School Committee also attended the competition and witnessed the children's focused, confident and excellent performance on the site. 

The competition consists of two parts: written competition and award ceremony. The award ceremony also has a lot of diversified performances, including listening abacus mental math relay, Nigerian cultural dance, Chinese speaking, etc. Principal Shirley of Nigeria Shenmo, Principal Li Mianjun of Shenmo China Headquarters, and Chairman of Port Harcourt Private Primary School Committee delivered speeches online and on-site. The day of the competition was also the 24th Anniversary of Shenmo Education, and the children on the site collectively expressed their birthday wishes to Shenmo.

This competition is the fourth competition of Nigeria Shenmo School, which is also the fourth year of the Nigeria Shenmo school. From the beginning of teaching 8 children in their own living room, in just four years, Nigeria Shenmo now has two centers for abacus mental math, and cooperates with more than 40 local private primary schools. Nearly 3,000 students are studying in the same period, which is very popular in the local area. And it will gradually develop into the whole country of Nigeria. More and more Nigerian children fell in love with abacus mental math and knew China through abacus.

Nigeria is the largest country in Africa, and the Shenmo School in Nigeria is by far the best developed among all the Shenmo schools in Africa. Not only in Nigeria, since 2018, Shenmo has authorized more than ten countries in Africa including Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ghana, Zambia, Niger, Sudan, Togo, etc., and has taught nearly 5,000 students. At the same time, more and more China-Africa exchange activities have been launched. The annual Shenmo abacus mental math competition in each country is the embodiment of China-Africa cultural and educational exchanges.

Under China's "Belt and Road" initiative, the people of China and Africa will be more closely connected. A small abacus, like a cultural ambassador, connects young educators and children in China and Africa, and even with more countries. With education as the core, abacus will build a bridge along the Belt and Road.