Cabo Verde: AfDB’s €14 Million Loan to Bolster Position as a Regional Tech Hub

The African Development Bank and the government of Cabo Verde have inked a €14 million loan agreement to make the Cabo Verde Technology Park more climate-resilient and business-friendly.
The agreement was inked in Praia, Cabo Verde, on July 19th. Previously, the African Development Bank provided a loan of €31.59 million to finance the first phase of the state-of-the-art technology park, which is already transforming the country into an innovative regional information and communication centre. The park, which operates as a special economic zone with tax and import duty incentives, will attract ICT specialists from across Africa. It has two campuses, one in Praia, the capital, and one on the island of So Vicente.
As part of phase two, the hub will be equipped to operate on renewable energy and furnished with two data centres as part of a public-private partnership.

The ICT hub of Cabo Verde will establish a €1 million seed fund to invest in approximately twenty innovative Cabo Verde companies. It will provide integration grants of at least €5,000 each to more than fifty African technology businesses. There are also plans to collaborate with international universities and corporations to train 300 African youth in soft skills over the next three years and prepare them for jobs that will be created as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (https://apo-opa.info/3Y7DkR7).

The loan agreement was inked by Cabo Verde’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Olavo Avelino Garcia Correia. He was enthusiastic about the transformative potential of the undertaking. He stated, “Our goal is to transform Cabo Verde into a digital nation, with a circulating economy and Praia’s technology parks as key components of this significant government strategy.”

During the ceremony, Uyoyo Edosio, the project manager for the African Development Bank, emphasised the project’s synergies. She stated that Cabo Verde’s distinct advantage in the tourism industry will now be enhanced as tourism and technology merge.

Commenting on the loan signing, Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, the African Development Bank’s Director for Industrial & Trade Development, stated, “The next generation of African talents need not seek opportunities abroad; Cabo Verde has the necessary infrastructure and a supportive political system to cultivate their dreams and ambitions in their own country.”