Cape Verde wants to attract one of five Special Economic Areas that China plans to set up on the African continent, the Cape Verdean Foreign Affairs minister said in Macau Monday during a visit to China.

Víctor Borges told Portuguese news agency Lusa that he had reiterated Cape Verde’s interest to the Beijing authorities and highlighted the advantages of Cape Verde in a regional context for housing the Special Economic Area. Borges noted that Cape Verde was well situated geographically “between Africa, the Americas and Europe,” and argued that the country lives in peace and is socially stable, which are both “important for development of economic activities.”

Beijing plans to build Cape Verde’s National Stadium, offer student grants to Cape Verdeans, build health facilities and at least two schools out of a total 100 that the country plans to finance in Africa. These projects were set out during the China/Africa summit held in Beijing.

Borges also discussed the possibility of Cape Verde benefiting from special rate loans from China with “low interest rates and long pay-back period,” an important move at a time when Cape Verde is “graduating” from the United Nation’s group of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), which implies a loss of international aid.
In Macau, the Cape Verdean minister wants to capitalize on local experience in the field of tourism, an activity which Cape Verde wants to develop without excluding the casino entertainment sector, but without specifying this particular area.

Source: macauhub