A Programme Built Around Talent
The summit opened on 15 July with a GovTech workshop for university students, launched with a keynote by Manuel Schiappa Pietra of FreeBalance on the digital government experience of Timor Leste. Students then worked in teams to develop their own projects, which were presented to a jury that awarded a prize to the winning group. The format extended a tradition the Cabo Verde chapter has built over three years of robotics and coding workshops in Mindelo and Praia, turning the summit itself into a hands on learning opportunity for the next generation.
The second day, held at the Praia Technology Park, opened with a keynote by Ayumi Moore Aoki, Founder and CEO of Women in Tech® Global, who retraced the journey of the organisation since 2018: from a first summer coding camp of 50 women from 35 countries to a global movement active in more than 70 countries, with close to one million women reached through its four pillars of education, digital inclusion, advocacy, and entrepreneurship.
Voices From Across the Lusophone Space
The opening panel on public policy and innovation brought together Her Excellency Janira Hopffer Almada, President of the National Assembly of Cabo Verde; Her Excellency Débora Carvalho, First Lady of Cabo Verde and godmother of the national chapter; His Excellency António José Medina dos Santos Baptista, Minister of Economy, Commerce, Industry and Digital Transition; Patricia Portela, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Cabo Verde; and Ayumi Moore Aoki.
The programme continued with panels on the relationship between universities and the labour market, cybersecurity and disinformation, digital financial inclusion, and the Lusophone creative economy. Speakers included Nádia Teixeira of Cabo Verde Airlines, Luísa Ribeiro Lopes of .PT, Nilza Rodrigues of Forbes África Lusófona, and Varsénia da Luz, captain of Cabo Verde’s national women’s football team, whose presence resonated in a year when the Blue Sharks carried the country’s talent onto the world stage.
A dedicated panel on women in technology across the Lusophone space united the leadership of four national chapters: Mayra Silva of Women in Tech® Cabo Verde, Cláudia Mendes of Women in Tech® Portugal, Jaquelina Ngulo of Women in Tech® Angola, and Delfina Franco of Women in Tech® Mozambique, in a conversation on the challenges and opportunities shared across the community.
Three Announcements for the Road Ahead
From the stage in Praia, Ayumi Moore Aoki made three announcements that will shape the organisation’s Lusophone agenda. Women in Tech® will open two new chapters, in São Tomé and Príncipe and in Guinea Bissau, extending the movement’s presence across Lusophone Africa. The Women in Tech® Global Summit 2027 will take place in Rio de Janeiro from 20 to 22 April. And the Lusophone Summit will continue as an annual gathering, with its second edition to be hosted in Paraíba, Brazil, in 2027, in the presence of Her Excellency Elis Ribeiro, Secretary of State of the Government of Paraíba, who attended the summit in Praia.
Three Years in the Making
The summit crowned three years of work by Women in Tech® Cabo Verde, established in 2023 under the direction of Mayra Silva and with the First Lady of Cabo Verde as its godmother. What began as a national chapter running masterclasses and workshops has grown into the host of a first of its kind international summit, demonstrating what local leadership can build within a global movement.
Women in Tech® Global thanks the Government of Cabo Verde, the University of Cabo Verde, the Praia Technology Park, and all partners and volunteers who made the summit possible. The dream that started in 2018 with five million women remains the destination. Praia brought the Lusophone world one step closer to it, together.
