Cabo Verde’s Emerging Technology Sector – United States Department of State

Topic: “Cabo Verde’s Emerging Technology Sector”

Host: U.S. Ambassador to Cabo Verde Jeff Daigle

Date and Time: July 2023

Brief Description of Call: Join Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Dilawar Syed, U.S. Ambassador to Cabo Verde Jeff Daigle, and Cabo Verde’s Secretary of State for Digital Economy Pedro Lopes to hear about business opportunities for U.S. companies in Cabo Verde. In this video, Secretary Pedro Lopes describes recent developments in Cabo Verde’s technology sector.

Special Representative Syed: Hi, my name is Dilawar Syed. I’m Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs. I am speaking to you from Praia. I was here for a couple of days as part of my West Africa swing to drum up more support for commercial investment in Cabo Verde. We are excited about the opportunities in renewable energy, in digital tourism, and blue economy. We appreciate that so many of you have joined us for the Direct Line with our ambassador. We certainly hope you will enjoy hearing about the opportunity in the country, and hopefully many of you will invest. Thank you so much for joining.

U.S. Ambassador Jeff Daigle: Thank you Special Representative Syed. Hello, I’m Jeff Daigle, the U.S. Ambassador to Cabo Verde. The close ties between the United States and Cabo Verde date back more than two centuries and are reflected in the sizable Cabo Verdean community in the United States, which is larger than the population of Cabo Verde itself. Shared values constitute the bedrock of the bilateral relationship, with Cabo Verde being a regional role model of stability, committed to democracy and good governance, rule of law, transparency, and promotion of human rights. Cabo Verde’s private sector-driven approach to economic development, focus on the digital and blue economies, and potential as a gateway to mainland Africa present excellent opportunities for U.S. companies, investors in a range of sectors including ports management and maritime services, clean energy, pharmaceuticals, tourism, cybersecurity, and agriculture. Expanding US commercial ties with Cabo Verde is a top priority for our embassy, which stands ready to support American companies and investors considering the Cabo Verdean market, including by helping the right make the right connections to do business here. We also maintain an up-to-date country commercial guide on Cabo Verde, which is available on the US Department of Commerce’s website. And now, I’m very pleased to introduce Cabo Verde’s Secretary of State for Digital Economy, Pedro Lopes.

Secretary of State for Digital Economy Pedro Lopes: It was a pleasure to welcome Mr. Syed here in Cabo Verde and show him the tech islands are open and ready for business and to receive U.S. business. We are building a tech park that will be ready in the end of this year to serve the entire continent. We want to be a reference, a hub of technology for West Africa. Also, we invested in the right connectivity. Internet is fast in Cabo Verde, and we want to improve even more. And we are training the talents. Cape Verdeans that will be trained to work for ICT companies to open their own ICT companies, but also talent from West Africa and talent from the world. We believe that here in Cabo Verde we can do magic things and also we can tell a story to the world with the power of ICT.