Bt Investments Blog

International property investment in Cape Verde has proved to be "wise" in the post-recession economic climate, reports the Daily Mail.The newspaper said that international property developers who caught on to the country’s development opportunities a few years ago are reaping the rewards as the country grows in popularity.Paul Akwei, director of Noscasa estate agency, told the Daily Mail that "the recession came at the right time to save Cape Verde from being ruined".He added that tourism to the country was up 22 per cent on last year.A recent report from the International Monetary Fund concluded that the economy in Cape Verde has "weathered the global crisis well" and plans to improve the country’s public infrastructure would have a "a positive impact on medium-term growth and competitiveness".Cape Verde Property was one of the first British estate agencies to specialise in the region. Andrew Lillywhite, from the company, told the newspaper: "A few years ago, Sal had the weather, the beaches and little else, but that is all changing. Cape Verde needs good quality and good access. And I believe that we’re starting to see that happening."Written by Jamie Musk.

For my first official trip as MCC’s CEO, I chose to look at MCC projects in two African partner countries, Ghana and Cape Verde. Both countries are well into their compacts, and I wanted to come and see the impact our funds are having on the lives of the men and women here.

I just completed the Ghana portion of the trip and am very excited about this country’s future. MCC is investing $547 million into making agriculture more productive, building schools, and paving roads. The numbers are impressive enough, but until you see the progress on the ground, it is hard to truly understand how complex, integrated, and successful this compact is.

Much of the credit for the success goes to the Ghanaians themselves, who set up an entity called MiDA that will exist and foster economic development long after the MCC compact is over. I also want to acknowledge MCC’s resident mission, led by Jim Bednar, Resident Country Director, and Katerina Ntep, Deputy Resident Country Director, who are working with the Ghanaians to oversee implementation.

As a child of Africa, I was thrilled to meet some of the boys and girls who now sit in classrooms for their lessons, instead of under trees. The Ghanaians identified lack of education as a constraint to their country’s economic growth, and MCC is proud to help address this challenge by funding the building of 310 schools, of which 65 are already finished. We have seen enrollment increase substantially. The number of girls in just the two schools I visited has doubled. This project is also an important example of collaboration and coordination with our partners at USAID, who are training teachers for the schools we are building.

In addition to the schools I visited, I was able to inspect progress on some of the rural roads our funds are paving, talk to pineapple farmers about how MCC-funded investments in cold storage are helping them export their crops, and meet a number of people who now have full rights and title to their property, thanks to the MCC-funded land titling project.

All of these elements are critical to successfully driving sustainable economic growth in Ghana through increased agriculture productivity. MCC’s five year program, therefore, works up and down the value chain. It starts with training the small farmer, works with banks to ensure he or she has access to credit, supports cooperative farming, and develops the roads to get products to markets.