The African Development Bank Group has approved a €17.71 million loan to drive Cabo Verde’s next phase of digital transformation, reinforcing the island nation’s push toward modern, transparent, and tech-enabled governance. The funding supports Phase II of the E-Governance and Public Financial Management Reform Programme, a national effort to strengthen digital services, enhance public administration, and stimulate private-sector competitiveness.
The approval, announced on Monday, marks a continuation of AfDB’s commitment to Cabo Verde after similar support provided last year. The programme forms part of the Bank’s broader strategy to help African nations deploy technology as a catalyst for economic expansion and administrative efficiency.
Abdoulaye Coulibaly, Director of the Governance and Economic Reforms Department at the African Development Bank, said the initiative is designed to deepen economic resilience: “The aim of this budgetary support… is to stimulate economic growth through digitisation and private-sector competitiveness, while advancing e-governance reforms to modernise public administration and consolidate public finances.”
The programme is structured around two key components.
The first component focuses on advancing digitisation reforms that will improve the business environment. This includes introducing e-Justice systems to streamline judicial processes and launching calls for private-sector proposals to expand the country’s technology park under the Digital Nomads Programme. New admission criteria will be developed to attract digital nomads and high-growth tech firms, positioning Cabo Verde as a competitive innovation hub in West Africa.
The second component prioritises modernising public administration and strengthening fiscal sustainability. As part of efforts to enhance transparency, Cabo Verde will develop and publish an action plan to rationalise tax expenditures, accompanied by full annual estimates in the 2026 national budget. The Bank will also finance a Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment in early 2026 through the Middle Income Countries Grant.
Primary beneficiaries of the programme include the Ministry of the Digital Economy, the Central Bank of Cabo Verde, the Institute for Gender Equality and Equity, the National Directorate of State Revenue, and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
