Luxembourg Reaffirms Investment, Financial Commitment to Cape Verde

Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Minister of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Xavier Bettel, the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, and the Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Serge Wilmes, carried out a joint working visit to Cape Verde from Tuesday 22 to Wednesday 23 April 2025. 

In a press release, Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Economy, Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade reported that the ministers held various bilateral meetings with members of the Cape Verdean government. Deputy Prime Minister Bettel met with José Filomeno Monteiro, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration. Both ministers are said to have expressed their satisfaction with the excellent bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Cape Verde, highlighting their development over the years. The accreditation in 2024 of Luxembourg's first resident ambassador, Jean-Marie Frentz, to Praia, as well as the diversification of relations to include sectors such as economic development, finance, climate, culture and defence, are described as testament to this growing rapprochement. The successful integration of the Cape Verdean diaspora in Luxembourg also played a key role in strengthening these bilateral ties. 

Minister Delles held bilateral meetings with Alexandre Monteiro, Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy, on Cape Verde's energy independence and its goal of achieving 50% renewable energy by 2030, as well as with Eurico Monteiro, Minister of Investment Promotion and Business Development, on vocational training in Cape Verde and trade relations between the two countries.

Furthermore, Minister Wilmes discussed programmes in the areas of climate action, water and sanitation with his counterpart, Minister Guilberto Silva. During the meeting, Minister Silva spoke of his appreciation of Luxembourg's political pragmatism, which has become a key partner in achieving objectives in the areas of adaptation to the effects of climate change and water sanitation, by improving the energy efficiency of drinking water production and distribution processes - two priority areas for the Cape Verdean government.

Minister Wilmes emphasised: " Cape Verde is a model example illustrating the trust and positive concrete results resulting from Luxembourg climate financing. Moving forward, it is important to further develop strategic elements, such as climate governance and financing mobilisation. It is with the support of our programme that Cape Verde developed its climate resource mobilisation strategy, which will be published later this year. Furthermore, our collaboration has enabled the mobilisation of co-financing from the Green Climate Fund, demonstrating the catalytic effect of our cooperation."

In addition to these bilateral meetings, the three ministers held courtesy meetings with the President and the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, as well as the President of the National Assembly. 

24th Partnership Commission between Luxembourg and Cape Verde

According to the press release, the focus of the visit was the 24th meeting of the Partnership Commission between Cape Verde and Luxembourg, with the participation of the three Luxembourg ministers and four Cape Verdean ministers, chaired by Minister Bettel and his Cape Verdean counterpart. This meeting provided an opportunity to discuss progress made in implementing the current Indicative Cooperation Programme, entitled "Development – Climate - Energy," which brings together the support of the three aforementioned ministries. Cape Verde is the first country where Luxembourg's development cooperation has adopted a "whole-of-government approach," which aims to strengthen coherence between development, the energy transition and the fight against climate change.

During the meeting, Minister Bettel stated: "For Luxembourg, development cooperation in Cape Verde represents an investment in future generations and in a partner who shares the same fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law. In a world where isolationism is increasing and international solidarity is being tested, I would like to underscore the Luxembourg government's commitment to maintaining official development assistance at 1% of gross domestic income and to continuing to invest in partnerships of trust such as the one with Cape Verde. The presence of three ministers today demonstrates the importance we place on this friendly relationship and our desire to work together in a whole-of-government approach, which allows us to combine the expertise of different ministries and put it to the service of development projects.” 

The ministers expressed their support for Luxembourg's renewed commitment to Cape Verde. Discussions on a new Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) are expected to begin soon.

Visits to Luxembourg-funded projects

The ministers visited several Luxembourg-funded projects on the island of Santiago, in the areas of renewable energy, climate action, vocational training, tourism and maritime security. They visited the Renewable Energy Centre (CERMI), operational since 2015, where they toured the centre’s various classrooms and facilities and spoke with students, about a quarter of whom are young women, about their training and career prospects. The ministers also visited the Praia School of Hospitality and Tourism, established in 2011 with Luxembourg support, which remains a leading centre in the field. Tourism is Cape Verde's main economic driver, representing more than 25% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 66% of formal employment.

Furthermore, the visit to the Coast Guard's Maritime Security Operations Centre, supported by Luxembourg, which collects information from radars and plans operations against illegal activities in waters under Cape Verdean jurisdiction, highlighted the major maritime security challenges facing the archipelago. The ministerial delegation also conducted a joint visit, in the presence of representatives of the European Union embassies in Cape Verde, to the site of the future pumped storage power plant, a project aimed at strengthening the energy transition on the island of Santiago. As part of this project, classified under the European Union's Global Gateway Initiative, Luxembourg played a key role in its design, notably by financing the feasibility studies.

During the visit, Minister Delles stated: "The energy transition is a global necessity that we must address together. In this spirit of collaboration, we held discussions on Cape Verde's energy independence and its ambition to achieve 50% renewable energy by 2030. The Luxembourg government remains committed to supporting these goals, particularly through the Renewable Energy Centre, a key tool where more than 3,000 young talents have been trained to date to become the leaders of tomorrow in the renewable energy field. We are also supporting Cape Verde in other projects, including the installation of solar panels on the roofs of the country's 37 public secondary schools, financing the preparatory stages for the construction of a pumped-storage hydroelectric energy storage plant in Santiago, as well as the occasional sharing of technical expertise by the Société Electrique de l'Our in the maintenance and operationalisation of the plant once built".