Diana Catarina Rebelo de Sousa Lopes was born on May 21, 1979, in the city of Porto.
Until completing her graduation, she lived with her parents in Vila Nova de Gaia, entrepreneurial people connected to engineering and the construction sector, always identifying with this culture and with the ambition to participate in large-scale projects.
At the age of three, she entered Colégio de Gaia with great enthusiasm, where she studied until entering university, being a good student, showing a great desire to learn and a special ability to make friends, organize student events, and undertake initiatives.
As soon as she finished high school, she entered the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto, where she completed her civil engineering degree with a focus on territorial planning. She chose this course not due to family imposition, but because she understood it to be the best for her aspirations and that it could provide her with the best tools for her future. During this period, she was always involved with the Academic Association.
She is an Alumni Ambassador in Ghana for the Faculty of Engineering of Porto.
Since birth, she has always traveled with her parents and got used to different cultures and languages from a very young age, and perhaps because of this, she still travels the world whenever she can, having contacts and friends scattered around the world. Also because of this, as soon as she finished university, she sought professional challenges that would allow her to grow personally and professionally. She joined the “Programa Inov Contacto” for an international internship, being selected to join the Martifer team in Romania. This enriching experience provided her with valuable contact with different cultures, work methods, and realities, strengthening her professional training.
Back in Portugal in 2009, she joined the Ferreira Build Power team, where she honed her skills in construction, budgeting, quality, and management. She left the team during the economic crisis of 2010/2012 and took advantage of this period to travel to various European countries, participating in international job fairs in the hope of finding opportunities abroad that would provide her with more learning and professional growth.
Not being her top priority, and when she was about to leave for Australia, fate had it that in 2012, she started an adventure and experience in Africa. She rejoined Ferreira Build Power to initiate the company’s internationalization process in Africa, which she had previously participated in, and it was as Director of the Commercial and Purchasing Department that, at the end of that summer, she settled in Accra, in the Republic of Ghana.
In 2014, already perfectly integrated into the Ghanaian environment, she accepted the challenge to lead the Purchasing and Logistics Department of one of the largest construction groups in the Ghanaian market, Trasacco Ghana Group, where she stayed for the next three years. After this period, and in search of new goals and projects, faced with several invitations she received, she ended up accepting and leading the same department, but then at MSF – Moniz, Serra e Fortunato, in Ghana.
With the end of MSF-Ghana, she was hired by the Austrian multinational Vamed, becoming director of Vamed Health Projects Ghana, a company dedicated to the construction of hospitals, clinics, management, and provision of medical services, where she has been since then.
With a career marked by various challenges and enriching experiences, she has proven to be an experienced leader with extensive knowledge in various areas of engineering. Additionally, she dedicates part of her free time to networking and supporting and interacting with members of the Portuguese community residing in or visiting Ghana. She created and is part of the online group Portuguese in Ghana, where official and general interest information is shared, as well as the organization of activities and networking events among members.
Diana Lopes has been a member of the Portuguesa Diaspora Council since may 2024.