The African Development Bank (AfDB) is preparing a financing of 40 million euros to strengthen food production in Cape Verde, before the price hike caused by the war in UkraineIt was announced this Wednesday.
The 40 million euros will allow Cape Verde to really get into food production as a business that operates on several islands, but also with the infrastructure to do so”, said the president of the ADB, Akinwumi Adesina, during the visit to the Cape Verdean island. do Maio, where he participated in the inauguration of the expansion and modernization work of the local port, financed by the institution.
Speaking to reporters, he added that the AfDB “intends to strongly support the Government of Cape Verde in agriculture and in the establishment of special agro-industrial processing zones”to allow the archipelago to have infrastructure for the processing of agricultural foods and the creation of a logistics network for the transport and storage of these products, first of all to supply the tourism industry, which represents 25% of the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) of the country. .
Right now Cape Verde spends around 28 million dollars importing food to cater to this industry (tourism), and this is something they can do immediately. For this reason, we are planning a joint investment of 40 million euros. The AfDB will put up 20 million euros and other donors and partners the rest”, explained Akinwumi Adesina, about this financing package.
He also announced that the board of directors of the ADB hopes to approve this month a emergency support to Cape Verde worth 10 million euros, for aid and food securityas a way to support the archipelago to “cope with the consequences” of the rise in prices on the international market caused by the war in Ukraine.
Since the ADB began operations in Cape Verde, he added, it has financed 69 projects in the archipelago, with a global value of US$643 million, in sectors ranging from energy to transportation, health, agriculture, new technologies and governance. .
And, of course, at the moment we are also talking about other things regarding the support of young people, youth entrepreneurship. What makes us continue to invest here is because some of the projects here have been fantastic,” he emphasized, pointing to several examples, such as the financial support for the construction and rehabilitation of 385 kilometers of roads throughout the archipelago or their electrification, but also in the acquisition of vaccines against covid-19, which have already made it possible to immunize 84% of the Cape Verdean population.
“And that is well above the 18% of the rest of Africa. Congratulations,” she praised.
Akinwumi Adesina also said that in addition to the resilience that the country has shown, which is still facing a prolonged drought for more than four years, in addition to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and now the war in Ukraine, the bet must be in financing youth entrepreneurship, with a view to financing ADB for this purpose.
He added that the ADB in the last six years it has financed infrastructure works on the African continent with US$44 billiona “very critical” area for an archipelagic country like Cape Verde and that should benefit from the “corridor” that connects Dakar with Abidjan.
This will really significantly expand regional business opportunities for Cape Verde,” he said.
The prime minister, who spoke to journalists in the company of Adesina, highlighted the continuous support of the ADB over the years and that it will see an increase with the project to strengthen agricultural value chains.
It is a great initiative that we are launching now, as well as a strong youth entrepreneurship programme. And we are converging on these priority areas because they aim to make the country more resilient and they also aim to provide answers to employment problems”, said Ulisses Correia e Silva.
The archipelago is facing a profound economic and financial crisis, due to the sharp drop in tourist demand, a sector that guarantees 25% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the archipelago — since March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020 it recorded a historic economic recession, equivalent to 14.8% of GDPfollowed by a growth of 7% in 2021, driven by the recovery in tourism demand. For 2022, due to the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, namely the rise in prices, the Cape Verdean government lowered its growth forecast by 6% to 4%.
Source: Observadora
