Washington, D.C.
At its quarterly meeting today, the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved a $66.2 million compact with Cape Verde. The Board of Directors selected Benin and El Salvador as eligible to develop proposals for new compacts and Nepal and Honduras as eligible to develop Threshold Programs. “Cape Verde has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to building a self-sustaining, high-growth economy through policy and institutional reforms, private sector engagement and infrastructure development,” said MCC Chief Executive Officer Daniel W. Yohannes. “MCC is proud to partner again with this stable democracy—a model for all of Africa—to improve the quality of life for Cape Verdeans in positive and sustainable ways.”
The Government of Cape Verde recognizes that to alleviate poverty it must continue its positive track record of improved policy performance and government reform. This compact provides a unique opportunity to reduce poverty and address critical constraints to economic growth in Cape Verde through projects focused on reforming the water, sanitation and land management sectors.
Benin and El Salvador were considered eligible to develop proposals for new compacts. These second compacts are contingent on successful completion of first compacts, continued good policy performance, development of proposals that have significant potential to promote economic growth and reduce poverty, and availability of funding.
“Traveling over the last year, I saw firsthand the positive impact that MCC’s compacts are having in both Benin and El Salvador,” said Yohannes. “These countries not only demonstrate the sound policy performance that is required of an MCC partner country, but looking at what they have accomplished in implementation makes me enthusiastic about developing a second compact with them.”
The Board also selected Nepal and Honduras as eligible for new Threshold Programs, and agreed that Zambia, Georgia and Ghana are eligible to continue the process of developing compacts in Fiscal Year 2012. The meeting was held at the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s headquarters on December 16, 2011
About Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa. The islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), are of volcanic origin and while three of them (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) are fairly flat, sandy and dry, the remaining ones are generally rockier and have more vegetation. However, because of the infrequent occurrence of rainfall the overall landscape is not particularly green, despite what the country’s name suggests (verde is Portuguese for “green”). The name of the country stems instead from the nearby Cap Vert, on the Senegalese coast, which in its turn was originally named “Cabo Verde” when it was sighted by Portuguese explorers in 1444, a few years before the islands were discovered.
The country has an estimated population (most of creole of ethnicity) of about 500,000, with its capital city Praia accounting for a quarter of its citizens. Nearly 38% of the population lives in rural areas according to the 2010 Cape Verdean census; about 20% lives below the poverty threshold, and the literacy rate is around 85%. Politically, the country is a very stable democracy, with notable economic growth and improvements of living conditions despite its lack of natural resources, and has garnered international recognition by other countries and international organizations, which often provide development aid. Since 2007, Cape Verde has been classified as a developing nation.
United States & Cape Verde
The relationship is cordial and has strong historical roots. In the early 18th century, U.S. whaling ships appear to have begun recruiting crews from Brava and Fogo to hunt whales that were abundant in the waters surrounding Cape Verde. Ties between the American colonies and Cape Verde are documented as early as the 1740s, when American ships routinely anchored in Cape Verdean ports to trade for salt or buy slaves. The tradition of emigration to the United States began at that time and continues today.
The first U.S. consulate in sub-Saharan Africa was established in Cape Verde in 1818. U.S. consular representation continued throughout the 19th century. The United States recognized Cape Verde on its independence day and supported its admission to the United Nations. Cape Verde assigned one of its first ambassadors to the United States, and a resident U.S. ambassador was posted to Cape Verde in 1983. Prime Minister Jose Neves visited Cape Verdean communities in New England during an official trip to the United States in 2002, and President Pires visited the United States in April 2005. (Prime Minister Neves also visited the U.S. in September 2007.)
The United States provided emergency humanitarian aid and economic assistance to Cape Verde in the period immediately following Cape Verde’s independence, as well as after natural disasters, including a hurricane that struck the island of Brava in 1982, and after a severe volcanic eruption on Fogo in 1995. Cape Verde also is eligible for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and has signed an Open Skies agreement to facilitate air travel safety and expansion. On July 4, 2005, Cape Verde became the third country to sign a compact with the U.S. Government-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC); the five-year assistance package is worth over $110 million in addressing rural economic expansion, infrastructure development, and development of the credit sector.
AMIP News Staff Writer
###
No comments:
Post a Comment