In 2023, I started tracking an interesting pattern in Cabo Verde. The government committed to digitising 62% of public services by 2026. Then it went further: it started actively marketing its homegrown e-government platforms to neighbouring African countries as affordable, battle-tested solutions for their own digital transformation needs. A small island nation was building its digital infrastructure — and planning to export it. Here is what followed: → Airport management co

Cabo Verde's 2022–2026 Strategic Sustainable Development Plan targets 50% renewable energy by 2030, and 100% by 2050. This is not an aspiration. It is a funded programme. What is already happening: → Wind farm on Santiago Island: capacity expanding from 9 MW to 22 MW → Eight new solar power plants under construction, some beginning in 2026 → Rural electrification projects across multiple islands → VAT and import duty exemptions for renewable energy equipment → Subsidised loan

When I talk to UK CEOs about expanding into Lusophone Africa, many of them get immediately anxious about Angola's regulatory complexity or Mozambique's scale of operation. My response: start with Cabo Verde. Not because Cabo Verde is the biggest opportunity. But because it is the most accessible gateway into the PALOP world — and gateways compound. Here is why Cabo Verde works as a first step: Political stability. Cabo Verde has had peaceful democratic transitions for decades

This is not a small detail. Upper-middle-income status is the category that includes countries like Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and China. Cabo Verde — a small Atlantic archipelago of half a million people — just crossed that threshold. The World Bank elevated it in July 2025. What got it there: → GDP growth of 7.3% in 2024 — one of the highest rates in West Africa → Inflation at 1% — its lowest level in recent history → Public debt declining from 144% of GDP in 2021 to 107