Portugal: Lusophone Compact may be extended to other African countries – minister

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Portugal: Lusophone Compact may be extended to other African countries – minister

3:07 CAT | 07 Jul 2023

Investment projects worth around US$7.5 billion (€6.97 billion) are currently under development under this initiative, at various stages of implementation, in the six PALOP countries, namely Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea, according to the AfDB.

The application of the Lusophone Compact investment platform to countries such as Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast and even South Africa is under analysis, Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs told Lusa on Thursday.

The issue was addressed by João Gomes Cravinho on a visit to the African Development Bank (AfDB), where the implementation of this initiative, launched by Portugal in partnership with the AfDB and aimed at accelerating the growth of the private sector and the development of infrastructure in the six Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP), was highlighted.

“We are interested, on the one hand, in extending the timeframe but, on the other, also extending its applicability to countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana, and possibly even South Africa, which are countries where there is also interest in the relationship between cooperation and Portuguese business,” the Portuguese foreign minister told Lusa by telephone.

At the meeting, held on Wednesday as part of the minister’s official visit to the Ivory Coast, the AfDB said it was “very pleased” with this initiative, which is “a somewhat innovative instrument with great potential,” he noted.

The extension of the validity of the Lusophone Compact for another five or even 10 years had been announced to Lusa, in May, by the chairwoman of its steering committee, Moono Mupotola.

She also revealed at the time that the entry of Brazil, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the UN specialised agency to promote and speed up sustainable and inclusive industrial development, the European Investment Bank and the African Trade Guarantee Agency, with an interest in helping the private sector to secure exports, was being analysed.

The partnership was approved for five years, from 2018 to 2023, and would come to an end in December, but the steering committee’s guidance was that it would like to see it continue for 10 years, and there was an agreement in principle from the Portuguese government to continue support, with a financial guarantee of €400 million for investments in the PALOP countries, according to the same official.

Investment projects worth around US$7.5 billion (€6.97 billion) are currently under development under this initiative, at various stages of implementation, in the six countries, namely Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea, according to the AfDB.

Signed in November 2018, the Lusophone Compact is an investment platform and partnership between eight parties, committing them to contribute to accelerating private sector growth and infrastructure development in Portuguese-speaking African countries.
João Gomes Cravinho ends a visit in Burkina Faso today that took him to three West African countries, which began in Ghana, followed by Ivory Coast and ends today in Burkina Faso.

Bilateral relations and security and defence issues, as well as the reopening of the Portuguese embassy in Abidjan more than 20 years after was closed, marked the agenda.

Source: File photo: Lusa