"It is very important. Firstly, all six PALOP countries have agricultural potential. They are countries that already have some ties with Brazil, and Brazil brings what our president [of the African Development Bank (ADB)] wants to prioritize, which is professional training development and skills development", explained the official, on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meetings, which run until Friday in Nairobi.

Signed in November 2018, the Lusophone Compact is an investment platform and a partnership between eight parties that are committed to contributing to accelerating the growth of the private sector and the development of infrastructures in the PALOP.

The mechanism results from the partnership between the ADB, Portugal and the PALOP, with the accession of Brazil - the only Portuguese-speaking shareholder of the African bank that had not yet signed the Lusophone Compact - having been completed about a month ago.

"Brazil brings this in the area of agriculture, in the area of transformation and also in terms of technologies for renewable energies. As you know, we, the bank, have this sector as a priority and this is where we see Brazil as an interesting partner to boost the Lusophone Compact and also the Portuguese-speaking countries", added Neima Ferreira, at the end of a meeting, on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meetings in the capital of Kenya, with the partners of this financing mechanism.

The Lusophone Compact also has a guarantee for financing from the Portuguese State, in which Neima Ferreira assumes the objective of "boosting more" the use, expecting its renewal by the Government of Luís Montenegro.

"Portugal made available a guarantee that allows us to provide more support to the private sector and, in this sense, we are already in the process of renewal and we count on the new Portuguese Government. We will be able to quickly put the guarantee into practice", she guaranteed.

The partnership was approved for five years, from 2018 to 2023, and would end in December, but the orientation of the steering committee was that it would like to see it continue for 10 years, and there was an agreement in principle by the Government of Portugal to continue to support, with the financial guarantee of 400 million euros (percentage of the investment portfolio) for investments in projects in the PALOP.

"We have a project that was presented by the Bank, which was presented to the Portuguese Government, and there was a pre-agreement. Now it is up to us to finish the negotiations with the private sector, which benefited from 100 million dollars of financing. When we finish this negotiation, we will go back to the Portuguese Government to use the guarantee", she explained, assuming that the ADB counts on the support of Portugal in this process: "Of course, because we have more projects".

Regarding the possibility of extending the Compact to other countries, the official ruled out this possibility from the perspective of beneficiaries.

"We are open to receiving other countries, but as partners (...). The Compact is an initiative to promote the language and culture that we share together (...) and, in this sense, only Portuguese-speaking countries can be members of the Lusophone Compact", she said.

Even so, she admitted that "other countries can be partners", with "instruments that can help in the development of the private sector in the PALOP": "It is in this sense that we want to work and we invite other countries to also be part of this initiative that is having a very strong dynamic".

The African Development Bank Group is the continent's leading development finance institution and has 81 member states, including 53 African countries and 28 countries outside the continent, including Portugal and Brazil.

Leia Também: Brazil enters the Lusophone Compact investment platform (Portuguese version)