With this initiative, which takes place from the 15th to the 26th of February in the city of Praia, the Government of the Republic of Cape Verde, in partnership with the UNDP, will bring together and listen to all public and private actors, national and international, with an important role in the process of attracting and mobilizing additional resources.
These resources aim to finance the post-pandemic economy, as the central pillar of Ambition 2030, taking into account that, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is going through the biggest recession and job loss in its history, as well as a considerable deterioration of public finances.
For the Government, the achievement of this goal will require a significant increase in investments, so to meet this need, multiple sources of financing for development will be necessary, taking into account that each type of financing has different characteristics and variable potential to contribute with different aspects of the sustainable development agenda.
The “Financial Dialogues: Evaluation of Financing for Development within the framework of the Ambition Cape Verde 2030 and the SDGs” was presented yesterday, in an act in which the Government was represented by the Ministry of Finance, through the National Planning Directorate.
“In the face of Covid-19, in which everyone is concerned with the issue of debt forgiveness, everyone wants to see how we managed to overcome this phase, especially the poorest countries, we are also going to outline a strategy for sustainable development of our country, through financing,” said the National Director of Planning, Gilson Pina, recalled, in the face of the pandemic.
In this context, the Government and the United Nations are undertaking the creation of the INFF - Integrated Framework for National Financing - as a mechanism for the integration of financing instruments and with a focus on the accelerators of the SDGs.
It should be explained that the INFF is an instrument that will be owned and led by the Government, in a collective and concerted effort with its partners, to unlock the financing and create the enabling framework and financing solutions for the main transformations in the sustainable financial landscape Cape Verde, to fill funding gaps that delay the implementation of the SDGs, national plans and local strategies.
“The Development Financing Assessment (DFA) and the INFF end up aligning what we did with the maps mission and with the elaboration of our Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development,” said Gilson Pina.
UNDP Representative Steven Ursino, who was also present at the launch, stressed that INFF Cape Verde will focus on promoting private initiative and investment in the Cape Verdean economy, including support for young people and women entrepreneurs through of the UNDP Rapid Financing Mechanism for Cape Verde launched last week. “Attracting private investment, as opposed to public, is a challenging exercise. So it is necessary to create an incentive environment conducive to the mobility of people, goods, finances and ideas within and outside Cape Verde's borders.”
He also stressed that the DFA will place “knowledge, analysis and interactive learning at the center of the INFF implementation process, particularly aiming to establish sustainable and innovative financing mechanisms, covering the public and private sectors. The result will reflect an open dialogue based on technical work anchored in the pillars of the current and future PEDS.”
In turn, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Cape Verde, Ana Graça, stressed the importance of this exercise, “which marks the first step in a process that started a long time ago and is and stands out Archipelago in being piloting this exercise in the search for new financing mechanisms and innovative financing, aiming to leverage the country's economy.”
Originally published on Ministry of Finance website