Cape Verde seeks strategic partnership with South Korea to accelerate digital transformation
Cape Verde is exploring a partnership with South Korea to boost its digital transformation. A Cape Verdean delegation undertook a technical mission to Korea, focusing on data governance, digital public services and cybersecurity. Although promising, the talks are still in the early stages and no formal agreement has been signed.
The government of Cape Verde is stepping up its efforts to position digital technology as a fundamental pillar of its socio-economic development, exploring a possible strategic partnership with South Korea. To make progress in this direction, a delegation led by the Directorate-General for Telecommunications and the Digital Economy recently undertook a technical mission to South Korea.
In a statement released on Monday, July 7, the Ministry of Digital Economy revealed that the discussions with South Korean authorities focused on integrated data governance, digitization of public services and cybersecurity - areas considered crucial to strengthening citizens' trust, boosting the digital economy and improving the efficiency of the state.
The initiative is part of the Cape Verdean government's strategic vision of making digital transformation a vector for growth and modernization in key sectors such as tourism, the blue economy and agriculture. In a recent interview with Ecofin Agency, the Secretary of State for the Digital Economy, Pedro Lopes, said: "We believe that digital technology can accelerate economic transformation, even with limited natural resources. We are also supporting young people to create globally competitive startups."
The choice of South Korea as a potential partner is no coincidence. The Asian country is considered a global benchmark in cybersecurity by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ranks fourth in the United Nations' E-Government Development Index 2024, with a score of 0.9679 out of 1 - a reflection of its digital maturity and government effectiveness.
South Korea's potential partner is South Korea.
Cape Verde, meanwhile, is in 111th position on the same index, with a score of 0.6238 - above the West African average, but slightly below the global average of 0.6382. In terms of cybersecurity, the country is classified in the fourth of five categories of the Global Cybersecurity Index, standing out for its regulatory framework, but still with challenges to overcome in the technical, organizational, international cooperation and human resources training domains.
Despite the promising prospects, the Cape Verdean government stresses that talks with South Korea are still at an early stage. Concrete opportunities for future collaboration have been identified, but no formal agreement has yet been signed or announced. The success of this rapprochement will depend on the next steps and the ability of both countries to turn the technical dialog into a real partnership with measurable impact for Cape Verde's digital development.
