Cape Verde is betting on technology to transform its economy and reverse a long-standing brain drain, with the government aiming to make the digital sector account for a quarter of GDP by 2030. The archipelago, which gained independence from Portugal in 1975, is modelling its digitisation drive on Estonia's programme, according to Pedro Fernandes Lopes, secretary of state for the digital economy.
The country already provides digital public services for its 529,000 residents and a diaspora estimated at three to four times that size. Internet penetration stands at 75%, double the African average, and undersea cables are being laid along routes once used for the slave trade. Schoolchildren are learning robotics and coding in shipping containers.
TechParkCV, a £44.78m technology facility in Praia, hosts an incubation centre for startups, a youth training centre and a conference auditorium. Funded largely by a loan from the African Development Bank, it will host the Web Summit in December for the first time in Africa. Jessica Sanches Tavares, an adviser to the board, said the park has attracted about two dozen companies to its tax-incentivised special economic zone.
Lopes emphasised the goal of reducing reliance on foreign aid: “We don’t want to rely on foreign aid or support. There is a big opportunity for the global south to not depend on the former colonisers.” However, barriers remain, including poor air connectivity within Africa and reports of black Africans being targeted at Cape Verdean airports.
