Praia, Cape Verde, 15 Oct – The Cape Verdean government has presented the US federal government with the documents for construction of the second Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact, the Finance Minister said in Praia Thursday.

Cristina Duarte, who was speaking at the end of the presentation of the results of the first compact, said that the “success of the execution of the first MCA compact,“ was one of the “trump cards” in negotiations with the Americans for the second one to receive funding.

“The fact that we have managed to carry out the first compact within the stipulated deadline gives us a great negotiating advantage in relation to the second compact. In fact it was the success of the first that made it possible for Cape Verde to be chosen for the second,” the minister said.

Water supply and sanitation, records, higher education and support for the private sector are areas considered to be a priority by the Cape Verdean government which, “sought to identify the principal constraints on the country’s development.”

In terms of the value of the second compact the Finance minister also said that there was no figure available, but for all these projects Cape Verde would need to find more partners.

In his turn, the director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Daniel Yohannes, said that Cape Verde was considered eligible for the second compact but that “no amounts are being discussed yet.”

According to the director of MCA Cabo Verde, Medhi Laurent Brito, the first compact of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) directly or indirectly benefited 384,000 people, or 75 percent of the Cape Verdean population.

The port of Praia absorbed the largest amount of funding, or 49.5 percent (US$54.5 million) from the first MCA compact, of a total US$110 million, with the remainder distributed to various sectors and islands across the archipelago. (macauhub)