Cabo verde

Alongside Portugal, Luxembourg was the archipelago’s main development partner in 2024.

The 23rd partnership committee meeting with Cabo Verde was held on 15 March 2024 in Luxembourg. It was co-chaired by Minister Xavier Bettel, who was joined by Serge Wilmes, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. The delegation from Cabo Verde was led by Foreign Affairs Minister Rui Figueiredo, accompanied by Alexandre Monteiro, Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, and Gilberto Silva, Minister for Agriculture and the Environment. The session reaffirmed the shared commitment of both countries to their partnership.

The current Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP), which covers the 2021-2025 period, is entitled “Development – Climate – Energy” (DCE ICP, €85.4 million). This is the first ICP in which Luxembourg is taking a whole-of-government approach, facilitating the integration and coordination of development actions with other areas such as the energy transition and combating climate change. Activities are implemented by LuxDev and ADA (through an inclusive finance project integrated within the employment pillar). For the first time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity (MECB) and the Ministry of the Economy’s Directorate General for Energy have joined forces to design and deliver a single multiannual programme. The various ICP programmes span the entire archipelago and focus on the following priority areas of intervention: employment, water and sanitation, energy transition, climate action and governance and local development. These areas of intervention are complemented by sectoral budget support in employment and health. The bilateral programme in the energy sector has provided substantial support under an EU Global Gateway initiative in Cabo Verde. Since 2019, Luxembourg has provided €3 million in finance for the preparatory studies for the construction of a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant on Santiago Island and has contributed to the launch of a European Investment Bank (EIB) call for tenders in December 2024, which is now part of the Global Gateway initiative.

As part of multilateral cooperation, two interventions implemented by UN agencies under the DCE ICP were launched in 2023 and continued in 2024. In the employment sector, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is implementing a project to promote the formalisation of employment. Local development is being addressed through a programme implemented jointly by UNDP and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), with the goal of reducing or eliminating inequalities between the islands.

There are currently four Luxembourg NGOs working in Cabo Verde, funded by the MFA. The NGDO Betebuerg Hellleft is implementing a project to renovate and upgrade school infrastructure in the municipality of Mosteiros, on the island of Fogo. ECPAT is implementing a project to strengthen the capacity of local networks in Cabo Verde so that children, adolescents, families, local authorities and key community stakeholders are better informed of the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse and are equipped to prevent them. The NGDO Guiden a Scouten fireng Welt is supporting both formal education and vocational training initiatives. The NGDO “Cap Vert Espoir et Développement” is implementing a project to build a reception and training centre for pre-school children, school-age children and adults.