Between 21 and 25 April 2024, Nairobi in Kenya hosted the Connected Africa Summit with both the implementers of development cooperation projects financed by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in African countries – the associations Riga TechGirls and the Economic Cooperation and Investment for Latvia (#esiLV) – among the participants. Latvia was also represented at the summit by the Latvian Development Cooperation Agency, the functions of which have been performed since 2022 by the Central Finance and Contracts Agency (CFCA).
Latvia prioritises both digitalisation and gender equality in its development cooperation. Those are the most important themes for events in Latvia’s campaign for membership of the United Nations Security Council. Participation in the summit enabled Latvia to present itself in a positive light in both those areas, thereby raising its visibility in the African countries and among other international partners.
In the summit agenda, 25 April was dedicated to the International Girls in ICT Day. On this day, Ieva Jākobsone-Bellomi, Board Member of #esiLV, took part in a panel discussion on Closing the Gender Digital divide in Africa, while Aiva Staņēviča, Board Member of Riga TechGirls, addressed the audience at the panel discussion on Women and Girls Leadership in ICT.
One of the alumni of a training course under the #esiLV development cooperation project, “She rebuilds the World”, from Zambia was also taking part in the summit, which made it possible to hear directly a project participant’s account of Latvia’s contribution and potential.