Djassi Africa officially launches Accelerate PALOP to strengthen the Digital Economy and Startup Ecosystems across Lusophone Africa

Djassi Africa has officially launched Accelerate PALOP, a bold and transformative strategy designed to drive digital transformation, strengthen startup ecosystems, and position Lusophone African countries (“PALOP”) as key players in the global digital economy. Already in motion in Cabo Verde and Angola, the strategy will expand across Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Mozambique throughout 2026.

Unveiled in Praia, Cabo Verde, the strategy represents a decisive step in Djassi Africa’s mission to enable Africa’s socio-economic transformation through digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth models. With a strong track record across Africa, Europe, and Brazil, Djassi Africa has been actively enabling key pillars of the continent’s digital economy — from Digital Skills & Capacity Building to Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Digital Financial Inclusion, and Sustainability — delivering measurable impact in emerging innovation ecosystems.

Africa’s digital economy is one of the most promising engines of inclusive growth, with the potential to create millions of jobs, attract global investment, and increase productivity across all sectors. Yet, Lusophone Africa countries remain underrepresented in this continental transformation. That is precisely the paradigm shift Djassi Africa is driving, with Accelerate PALOP serving as a renewed, long-term commitment to positioning PALOP countries as vibrant innovation hubs capable of building scalable startups, attracting venture capital, enabling digital talent, and driving sustainable and inclusive growth.

Built on deep market knowledge, local experience, and global benchmarking, the Accelerate PALOP strategy focuses on six strategic pillars addressing structural needs across the PALOP innovation landscape:

1️⃣ Attract and enable Venture Capital funding to back tech-enabled startups: in the first eight months of 2025, African startups raised $2 billion — yet 0% went to Lusophone African startups. Accelerate PALOP aims to bridge this funding gap by unlocking local and international investment flows.

2️⃣ Build and accelerate the largest pipeline of investable and scalable startups across PALOP: startup ecosystems across PALOP countries remain fragmented and undercapitalised, with their startups lagging behind in the global innovation and investment race, due to the lack of focus on business traction, investment readiness and scalability.

3️⃣ Build ‘One PALOP Startup Ecosystem’ through multi-country collaboration: while each country is making progress in its own innovation journey, the fragmentation of efforts and lack of regional coordination are preventing the emergence of a globally competitive startup ecosystem, limiting growth, scalability and relevance.

4️⃣ Mobilise and activate Diaspora networks to leverage new sources of innovation capital: across PALOP countries, the diaspora is one of the most powerful, yet underutilised, assets for innovation and development - it's urgent to turn brain drain into brain gain and ultimately into brain circulation.

5️⃣ Position Creative Industries as a core driver of PALOP’s digital transformation: this has been a missed opportunity for economic diversification, growth, and to tap into the $2 billion investment commitment to the African creative sector.

6️⃣ Build the Lusophone Innovation Corridor connecting PALOP, Brazil and Portugal: leveraging Djassi Africa's strategic positioning in these markets, this corridor will serve as a transatlantic bridge for innovation, trade, and knowledge exchange.

Speaking at the official launch event, Fernando Cabral, Managing Partner of Djassi Africa, stated:

“Our mission with Accelerate PALOP is to unlock the full potential of Lusophone Africa’s innovators — ensuring that no talent, no idea, and no opportunity is left behind. We believe the next wave of African digital innovation will be led by these countries, and Djassi Africa is here to build that future.”

For Djassi Africa, Accelerate PALOP is more than a strategy — it’s a long-term commitment to building sustainable, inclusive, and globally competitive digital economies across Lusophone Africa. Through this strategic roadmap, Djassi Africa will continue to connect governments, entrepreneurs, investors, academia, private sector partners, and the diaspora — uniting them under one shared vision:

To accelerate Lusophone Africa’s journey towards a digital, innovative, and prosperous future.