Portugal confirms partnership with African Development Bank and Lusophone Compact | African Development Bank Group

Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho confirmed his country’s continued support for the African Development Bank at a meeting at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan. Portugal has been a non-regional member of the Bank since 1983.

Cravinho met with Swazi Tshabalala, Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, and members of the finance and resource mobilization departments on Tuesday, July 4. The parties discussed their mutual relationship and the Lusophone Compact Agreement signed between the African Development Bank, the Government of Portugal and six Portuguese-speaking African countries – Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe – in November 2018.

The Minister also showed interest in the increased use of Portuguese as a language within the Bank. The Bank has five Portuguese-speaking African countries as members and Portuguese is increasingly becoming a language of business, he said.

Cravinho said Portugal, which sees the African continent as extremely important to its foreign policy agenda, was very interested in the Bank’s assessment of the Lusophone Compact so far. He said the Compact, developed to create a new mechanism that would benefit all countries, could have even greater reach.

“Our feeling is that it is under-known and likely under-used,” said Cravinho, adding that Portugal was ready to help countries maximize the benefits of the agreement.

The minister said Portugal would also like to expand its ties with non-Lusophone countries, such as Senegal, South Africa and Ivory Coast, and possibly expand the Lusophone Compact to those countries and beyond.

Tshabalala described the African Development Bank’s relationship with Portugal as growing. She said the Lusophone Compact had huge potential and the signing further strengthened the relationship. She thanked Portugal for both the Compact and its contribution to replenishing the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional lending window, which covers several Lusophone Compact countries.

Tshabalala said Portugal’s support came at a “particularly difficult time for many African countries”. She added that she looks forward to continuing relationships with partnerships that deliver value. “We welcome the interest in expanding beyond Lusophone countries – in terms of operations. Support is needed to improve the environment,” said Tshabalala.

The senior vice president noted that the African Development Bank had made significant progress, especially with a pipeline of transactions under the Lusophone Compact. The discussion showed that although much effort had been made to inform the Member States of the Lusophone Compact, there was still not enough awareness of the benefits of the agreement for them. Bank staff who explained about 23 projects on the Lusophone Compact pipeline still have a lot of work to do in terms of bankability.

Cravinho expressed Portugal’s delight at the successful 16^e replenishment of the African Development Fund in December 2022 (ADF-16). Portugal is also pushing for a proposal to allow the African Development Fund to borrow on the capital markets. If successful, the African Development Bank could better fulfill its mandate. Portugal fully supports this move, Cravinho said, especially given the focus on a green transition and coordinated action on climate change.

Discussions also centered on the Climate Action Window – introduced as part of ADF 16. The window covers 37 African Development Fund member states, which are also among the world’s most vulnerable and vulnerable countries to climate change. Tshabalala said the bank welcomed Portugal’s support for the window, which has a special focus on climate adaptation.

Niels Breyer, executive director for Portugal, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland at the African Development Bank Group said the bank is making progress in developing a number of green initiatives. He noted that the Climate Action Window can really make a difference.

The Portuguese Foreign Minister was accompanied by Ambassador Maria Da Conceição Pilar, the country’s main representative in Côte d’Ivoire, João Queirós Deputy Director General responsible for foreign policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adviser Carlos Teixeira, and communications adviser Rita Roque .

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