• The African Development Bank has greenlit a second-phase loan to support Cabo Verde’s E-Governance and Public Financial Management Reform Programme.

• The programme Targets digitising court systems, attracting tech firms and remote workers through a “digital nomads” programme, and implementing reforms to improve tax efficiency and public resource management.

• The country now ranks 111th in the UN’s E-Government Development Index and 78th in the E-Participation Index, reflecting its growing digital engagement and commitment to modern, citizen-centric governance.

The African Development Bank Group has approved a €17.71 million loan to finance the second phase of Cabo Verde’s E‑Governance and Public Financial Management Reform Programme, deepening support for the country’s digital transformation and fiscal reforms, the group announced Wednesday, December 3.

The decision, endorsed by the Bank’s Board of Directors on Monday, extends a programme that began last year to help the island nation use technology to drive growth, improve service delivery, and strengthen public finances. According to Abdoulaye Coulibaly, Director of the Bank’s Governance and Economic Reforms Department, the budget support is designed 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’s first component focuses on accelerating ongoing digital reforms that can boost the business environment, including the rollout of an e‑Justice system to digitise court processes and a call for proposals to attract private operators to Cabo Verde’s technology park under a “digital nomads” programme. New admission criteria will be developed to make it easier for remote workers and high-growth technology firms to establish themselves in the country.

The second component targets public‑sector modernisation and fiscal sustainability. It will back policy measures to increase transparency and improve the efficiency of public resource management, notably through an action plan to rationalise tax expenditures and the publication of comprehensive tax‑expenditure estimates in the 2026 national budget.

Key institutions set to benefit from 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.

The initiative comes as Cabo Verde continues to make strides in digital governance, ranking 111th out of 193 countries in the 2024 United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), placing it in the “High EGDI” category. The country also climbed to 78th globally in the E-Participation Index, reflecting growing citizen engagement through digital platforms.

The new financing is expected to reinforce Cabo Verde’s efforts to build a more competitive, transparent, and resilient economy grounded in modern e-government services.

Hikmatu Bilali