The Guardian | Cape Verde bets on tech to reverse postcolonial brain drain by Eromo Egbejule in Praia and Mindelo

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Cape Verde is betting on a digital boom to curb one of the world’s highest emigration rates, turning the archipelago into a tech hub for West Africa. Led by Pedro Fernandes Lopes, the secretary of state for the digital economy, the government created a digital‑economy ministry in 2021 with a goal of making the sector account for a quarter of GDP by 2030, already providing public services to the 529 000 residents and a diaspora estimated at three‑to‑four times the population. Internet penetration has risen to 75 %—double the African average—and schoolchildren are learning robotics and coding, while under‑sea cables link the islands to global networks. Central to the strategy is TechParkCV, a £44.8 million facility that houses an incubation centre, youth training, and a conference space, recently attracting the Web Summit and dozens of startups benefiting from tax incentives and African Development Bank financing. Though challenges remain—poor air connectivity, occasional discrimination at airports, and concerns that startups rely too heavily on government subsidies—the government is optimistic that fostering local talent, encouraging diaspora investment, and creating a self‑sustaining tech ecosystem will reverse the post‑colonial brain drain and spark economic transformation.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/10/cape-verde-tech-brain-drain

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