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Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has confirmed that Cabo Verde is eligible for a new U.S. aid compact, but the government has not yet decided whether to submit a proposal. The question of whether to build on existing projects or start a new process was raised by the newspaper Expresso das Ilhas to the Ministry of Special Projects Coordination and Access to Funds, but no response was received before the end of the edition.
On the last day of August 2026, MCC released its fiscal‑year 2027 report, which lists 91 eligible countries that can submit projects for the next compact. Almost half of the eligible nations are in Africa. Cabo Verde, Angola, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe are among the PALOP (Portuguese‑speaking African) countries on the eligible list. Guinea‑Bissau and Madagascar are noted as “candidates with reservations,” indicating that their future eligibility depends on further legal assessment.
Countries excluded from the list include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Sudan (all cited for military coups), Chad, Eritrea and South Sudan (for human‑rights violations), and Zimbabwe (for restrictions on the rule of law, property rights and fundamental freedoms). MCC states that regimes considered authoritarian or resulting from coups are excluded regardless of economic potential.
The report specifies that a candidate country must have a gross domestic product per capita below $8,105 in fiscal 2027 and must not be ineligible to receive U.S. economic assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act or other legal provisions. MCC further notes that final selection will be based on a country’s demonstrated commitment to fair and democratic governance, economic freedom and investment in its people.
Cabo Verde has previously benefited from two MCC compact agreements. The first, from 2005 to 2010, totaled $110 million and funded the modernization and expansion of the Port of Praia, bridge construction on Santo Antão, road improvements on Santiago, and the strengthening of microfinance and agricultural management. The second, from 2012 to 2017, was worth $66.2 million and focused on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) projects, legal and institutional reforms to reduce water costs, and the management of property and land registration modernization.
In December 2023, Cabo Verde was selected for a third compact aimed at regional economic integration and the archipelago’s physical and digital connectivity. Planned investments included transport and physical connectivity—improving inter‑island maritime and air links, international and intermodal connectivity—to reduce transport costs and boost trade with West Africa. Digital connectivity projects were intended to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure and technology economy to accelerate modernization and improve interconnected services.
After signing the initial project agreement in April 2024, the compact was terminated in December 2025 following a review and reconfiguration of U.S. external aid policy by the new administration. Although the funding agreement ended, the Cabo Verdean government retained and integrated all technical studies and plans developed in 2024.
While the MCC partnership has a long history of structural cooperation
Article and image source: expressodasilhas.cv
