On October 14, the first African Shenmo Cup Abacus Mental Math Competition was successfully held in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Hosted by Nigeria Shenmo School, this competition marked the first time that the Shenmo Cup Abacus Mental Math Competition was organized in Africa in a regional linkage mode. The new mode of organizing the competition signifies the comprehensive upgrade of the competition system in Africa towards more professionalism, high efficiency, and linkage.

Shenmo students from over 29 African countries actively participated in the competition, showcasing their skills and elegance in abacus mental math. Professor Lilly, Shenmo International Consultant, Li Mianjun, President of Shenmo Education Group, representatives of Shenmo Principals at home and abroad, as well as the guest from the Ministry of Education of River States,Nigeria, local cooperative partners and many other guests attended the competition.

The competition officially commenced at 9:30 a.m. with the solemn Nigerian and Chinese national anthems. Before the official start, children from Nigeria sang a wonderful African song, adding a unique cultural flavor to the event.

Principal Shirley of Nigeria Shenmo School delivered a speech, introduced the grand situation of the competition and warmly welcomed all the guests and participants. She expressed her sincere appreciation and blessings and shared her outlook and expectations for the development of Nigeria Shenmo School.

Dr. Mrs Ataisi Ngerebara, the rep of the Hon. Commissioner for Edu Rivers State of Nigeria, delivered a speech, expressing her expectation and wish for the successful organization of the competition. She fully acknowledged the development of Nigeria Shenmo School and its contribution to local education. She also wished the participating young learners great success.

Prof. Lilly from the University of San Diego, the International Consultant of Shenmo Education, delivered a speech, expressing her sincere blessing for the competition and emphasizing the importance of cultural integration and mutual learning between different countries and regions, and praised the competition for promoting Sino-African friendly exchanges.

Li Mianjun, President of Shenmo International Education Group, delivered a speech, highlighting the important value and significance of abacus and abacus mental math education. He expressed his gratitude to all the organizers, participants, and supporters of the competition, praised the steady development of Shenmo Schools in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, affirmed the role of the joint competition in comprehensively promoting education in Africa and cultural exchanges between China and Africa, and sincerely wished the contestants success in showcasing their true abilities and a successful competition.

At 10:35 a.m., the abacus mental math competition officially began, consisting of three rounds of mental arithmetic answers. Young players from over 20 African countries concentrated their minds and hearts to demonstrate their skills and talents on the competition stage.

After the successful conclusion of the competition, elite young learners from Nigeria Shenmo School showcased their mental math skills with a performance including listening-mental math and multi-tasking.

At 2 p.m., the awards ceremony started. The winners were announced one by one, and the awarding guests presented medals symbolizing the glory of the competition, as well as exquisite prizes of commemorative significance, to all the winners, their parents, and teachers. With all the awards given, the first African Shenmo Cup Abacus Mental Math Competition came to a successful end.

In addition, it has to be mentioned that with the holding of this competition, the Conference of Shenmo African Schools will also be held today. The agenda of the conference includes important activities and ceremonies such as work report by African schools, the signing ceremony of the new market, and the establishment ceremony of the Shenmo African Alliances.

The day before the competition, Professor Lilly, President Li Mianjun, Shenmo international principals, the official of local Ministry of Education, and other competition guests jointly planted the Shenmo evergreen tree symbolizing love and hope, and jointly wished Shenmo's development in Africa.

Established in 2018, Nigeria Shenmo School has experienced rapid and steady growth, establishing itself as one of the leading Shenmo international schools. Over the past six years, Nigeria Shenmo school have expanded to five cities, attracting more than 7,000 young learners every semester who study abacus mental math.

Since 2019, the annual Nigerian Shenmo Cup Competition has showcased a consistent improvement in professionalism and quality of organization and planning, resulting in an increase in participants each year. This competition has become a recognized and influential brand in local abacus mental math events, contributing to the school's continuous development and the construction of Shenmo's international education brand.

The first African Shenmo Cup Abacus Mental Math Competition held this year builds upon years of experience in organizing competitions. Following the concept of "synergistic development, linkage, and common advancement," the competition was actively organized in collaboration with all African Shenmo Schools. It garnered support from Shenmo schools in more than 20 African countries, with enthusiastic participation from African students. The competition also received high recognition from local education authorities in Nigeria. The success of this joint competition marks a new stage and chapter in the overall development of Shenmo schools in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

Shenmo began its internationalized school operations in 2002 and has since developed and explored for 22 years. In 2013, China proposed the important initiative of "One Belt, One Road." That same year, the abacus was selected as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Responding to the national policy call, Shenmo listed the development of school operations in Africa as a key direction of its internationalization strategy.

Through the Training of Trainer (TOT) strategy, Shenmo established its first African school, Shenmo Rwanda School, in 2018. Over the past six years, Shenmo has collaborated on-site schooling and teaching in over 20 African countries, including Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Libya, and more. Each year, numerous children across the African continent engage with Shenmo's mindful wisdom education programs, such as abacus mental math.

Shenmo Mindful Wisdom Education program not only brings excellent curriculum and educational resources to African children but also exposes more people in Africa to traditional Chinese culture, particularly the culture of abacus mental math. This comprehensive promotion contributes to the widespread dissemination of traditional Chinese culture globally.

This year, coinciding with Shenmo's 25th anniversary, the internationalized development of Shenmo has entered its 3.0 era. The first African Shenmo Cup Abacus Mental Math Competition serves as a comprehensive summary and review of Shenmo's achievements in overseas education during its 1.0 and 2.0 eras, while also presenting a promising outlook for the 3.0 era. It represents an important milestone in the development of Shenmo's overseas education.

At present, Shenmo has established more than 800 overseas schools to have abacus mental math and other courses in more than 50 countries, and the number of overseas students reached more than 90,000 in the same period. Shenmo global abacus cultural dissemination and abacus education promotion have been listed as Chinese national important cultural export enterprises and key project. The ancient Chinese abacus is currently undergoing a cultural revival worldwide, radiating a brilliant light of wisdom.