During a meeting between Pédro Fernándes Lopes, the Secretary of State for Innovation and Technical Training of Cape Verde, and Amadou Coulibaly, the Ivorian Minister of Communication and the Digital Economy on Thursday, September 15 in Abidjan, the issue of complementarity was addressed in order to allow the two states of Côte d'Ivoire and Cape Verde to help each other meet a challenge.

Following the estimate by Google and the IFC that the digital economy could generate $180 billion to the African economy by 2025 and that several countries are at risk of not benefiting from it because of their delay in digital transformation, Côte d'Ivoire and Cape Verde have chosen to help each other so as not to miss the opportunity.

The Ivorian Minister of Communication and the Digital Economy said that Côte d'Ivoire has a lot to learn from Cape Verde. The country is ranked among the best in Africa in terms of the e-government development index (EGDI). According to the latest United Nations data, Cape Verde is showing good results in terms of online services, telecommunications infrastructures and human capital in eighth place.

On behalf of Cape Verde, Pédro Fernándes Lopes stressed that Côte d'Ivoire can bring them a lot. “We are certainly a small country, but with big goals, and we believe that Côte d'Ivoire is a strong partner that can help us in this regard,” confirmed the Secretary of State for Innovation and Technical Training of Cape Verde.