The cultural and socioeconomic similarities of the five Portuguese-speaking African countries known as the PALOPs (Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe) offer valuable opportunities for the development of innovation networks and other collaborations in the business and entrepreneurship realm.  

Like in other developing countries, many economic activities in the PALOPs have been severely hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting the livelihoods of thousands of families and intensifying inequalities. The massive challenges imposed by the pandemic on every layer of society have highlighted the key roles of cooperation and innovation to help affected communities cope and achieve more equal and resilient societies.

E-volve (E-voluir) was an innovation competition and programme that put forward creative solutions to development challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fábrica de Startups Brasil, a business accelerator, implementing the project across the PALOPs with full financing from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Guinea-Bissau and technical support from UNDP country offices in Angola, Cabo Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé e Príncipe, as well as from Guinea-Bissau. The competition was an opportunity for citizens of the PALOPs to come forward and propose ideas and solutions to socioeconomic problems affecting their communities, mainly in areas related to: (i) work and economy; (ii) e-governance and digital transformation; (iii) disaster risk reduction; and (iv) community resilience. It represented a chance for beneficiaries of development interventions to have an active say and participation in how to address the most pressing issues faced in their everyday lives, in both the formal and informal sectors.

The initiative attracted more than 1,000 applications in the ideation phase from young professionals and graduate students from both PALOP resident nationals and members of the diasporas. A landing page for the initiative was established by Fábrica de Startups Brasil, under the guidance of UNDP’s PALOP Country Offices. A call for entries was shared on social media channels and with partners and an online press conference was held in Guinea-Bissau to bring attention to the initiative.

Ten teams were eventually selected, each composed of three to four participants. In partnership with Fábrica de Startups Brasil, E-volve provided support to the selected startups, starting with an intensive ideation week for the development of solutions (held online in February 2021). The teams were introduced to key innovation concepts and methods, notably the design-thinking approach, and how to design a business model, how to identify the persona of their solution, how to put together a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Proof of Concept (PoC) and how to prepare a pitch. The ideation week was followed by a 20-week acceleration programme, during which the winning teams were joined by ten early-stage startups from the PALOPs that already work on similar challenges. The 20-week acceleration programme entailed methodological sessions and workshops around business and entrepreneurial topics, such as PoC, Business Model, MVP, etc. Throughout E-volve, participating teams were put in contact with mentors and possible funding and technical partners. E-volve officially ended on 29 July 2021, with a Demoday. 

E-volve was considered a success by participating country offices, partners and participants. Currently, UNDP Guinea-Bissau is reflecting on how to build upon what was achieved through this initiative and how to continue building bridges with other PALOP Country Offices to support young entrepreneurs and innovators. The initiative has shown that, even during a pandemic, it is possible to organize an online innovation journey, focusing on network development and on South-South cooperation. Although the initiative dealt with immediate solutions to the COVID-19 crisis, it also has potential long-term impacts, including the intensification of South-South cooperation among the PALOPs through exchanges of best practices and strengthening of Lusophone entrepreneurship ecosystems and innovation networks.