Prime Ministers of the two countries will sign an agreement on the 23rd aimed at transforming the debt to be applied in investments to increase Cape Verde’s resilience with help from Portugal.
Cabo Verde’s debt to Portugal will be converted into a Climate and Environmental Fund, according to a memorandum of understanding between the two countries to be signed Monday in Mindelo, Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva said on Thursday.
The understanding, which will set the modalities of this process, will be signed by the prime ministers of both countries, António Costa and Ulisses Correia e Silva, as part of the Ocean Race Summit in Mindelo on Monday, during the stage on the island of So Vicente of the Ocean Race, the world’s largest regatta, from January 20 to 25.
“We will already sign a memorandum of understanding regarding the transformation of the state-to-state debt, Cape Verde and Portugal, for its application in investments that increase Cape Verde’s resilience. “Basically, it is the feeding of the Climate and Environment Fund through the participation of Portugal, with the hope that there will be the participation of other partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally,” said Ulisses Correia e Silva.
In an interview, the Cape Verdean prime minister stressed that this agreement represents “an example” and “a very strong commitment,” especially given the effects that the archipelago is already facing with climate change, including a prolonged drought since 2016, in addition to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the inflationary crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine.