Luxembourg's development cooperation in Cabo Verde
The development cooperation relationship between Cabo Verde and Luxembourg dates from the late 1980s, with Cabo Verde becoming a tier one partner country for Luxembourg's cooperation programme in 1993 following the signature on 3 August 1993 of a first general cooperation agreement defining the general framework for cooperation activity between the two countries in the cultural, scientific, technical, financial and economic fields.
The partnership committee between Cabo Verde and Luxembourg have taken place annually since 1999, alternating between Praia and Luxembourg. During the 3rd partnership committee held in Luxembourg in October 2001, a Cabo Verde cultural week, much appreciated by the Cabo Verde community in Luxembourg, took place in the wings of the official visit.
In January 2002, the two countries signed a first ICP for a four-year period (2002-2005) which made for more coherent, flexible and durable cooperation relations. ICP I's priority sectors were education, health, water and sanitation, together with food aid.
In the wings of the 7th partnership committee, in October 2005, the two countries signed ICP II, which maintained the previous priority sectors while extending the scope of Luxembourg's cooperation programme to the whole of Cabo Verde, the approach being to support national programmes.
In July 2010, the 3rd generation ICP was signed in Praia in the wings of the festivities organised by Cabo Verde to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the archipelago's discovery and the 35th anniversary of its independence. ICP III maintains consistency with its two predecessors, while introducing sectoral budget aid as a new mechanism for implementing Luxembourg's development programme in Cabo Verde. It also provides for a technical education and assistance fund.
With an additional budget allocation of 45 million euros (boosted by the balance of the current ICP), ICP IV covers the period 2016 to 2020 and was signed in March 2015 in the wings of the visit by HRH the Grand Duke. While continuing to focus on employment and employability (where Luxembourg is taking the lead role among donors) as well as water and sanitation, ICP IV now also includes renewable energies as a new sector of intervention, a substantial increase in sectoral budget support, cooperation with decentralised players and the stepping up of bilateral economic relations (within the confines of untied aid).