Mónica Sofia Silva Duarte
(*1991)
Contribution to the dialogue of national culture
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Mónica Sofia Silva Duarte is originally from Cape Verde. She studied physical engineering and then finance. After a successful career as a top model, she founded her own fashion brand Mónica Sofia. She is the founder and vice-president of the Czech-Cape Verde Chamber of Commerce, which aims to promote bilateral relations between the two countries in the fields of trade, culture, education and tourism cooperation. She founded and manages the Hope Cabo Verde Foundation, with which she is actively involved in the development of the Cape Verde Islands through humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable social groups such as children, youth, women and people with disabilities. She has implemented many important initiatives. In her hometown of Santa Cruz, she established 16 multimedia centres for youth. She has donated over 200 computers to primary schools and provided enormous assistance to Cape Verde and its communities during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as an ambulance and three school buses to the municipalities of Santa Cruz and Tarrafal. In the Czech Republic, she was honoured as the most active African for promoting her country by the Minister of Industry and Trade.
