“Barcelona has all ingredients to favor an innovation ecosystem”, by Mareme Dieng

Mareme Dieng, born in Senegal and has lived in Dakar, Vermont, Johannesburg, Paris, before moving to Barcelona 3 years ago. She is Lead, Africa in 500 Global a venture capital firm with $2.5 billion¹ in assets under management that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies

Why did you choose Barcelona?

I was invited to visit Barcelona by my best friend who I met in college and who is from Barcelona. I immediately fell in love with the city, its characteristics, the people, the energy and the way people approached life. I loved the way people seemed to find happiness in every corner of the city and I decided to stay.

What aspects of the city would you highlight as being positive?

The sea, the people, the way you can walk everywhere, the way you can find amazing food and the way you can find culture everything.

What aspects of the city must be improved? How?

The city could grow its startup community by incentivizing more young people from Barcelona and outside of Barcelona to set up their businesses in the city while attracting investments and talent.

Innovation and technology are key to the future of this generation and Barcelona needs to prioritize having a seat at the table on these conversations. Especially as larger cities around the world within developed and emerging countries are being proactive about incentivizing the development of technology. Barcelona has all perfect ingredients when it comes to favoring an innovation ecosystem, however those ingredients need to be well tied with policies, incentives, and campaigns to make sure that young people from Barcelona can see that as a viable career path.

What do you expect from Barcelona in the coming years?

Keeping its cultural roots and authenticity while opening up more to the rest of the world and what the future has to offer.

Which city do you feel as «your city»? What do you miss the most?

Barcelona definitely is the one that feels like my city.

If you are an expatriate living in the city and want to help improve Barcelona to attract more high-impact talent, you can complete the survey here: https://barcelonaglobal.civi-go.net/en/6th_international_talent_monitor