AfDB Strengthens Civil Society Engagement at Cape Verde Open Day
The African Development Bank (AfDB) held a landmark Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Open Day in Praia, bringing together government representatives, civil society leaders, and Bank officials to deepen partnerships for inclusive and people-centered development in Cape Verde.
Hosted at the Governor Hall of the Ministry of Finance, the event underscored the Bank’s commitment to tripartite collaboration among governments, CSOs, and the AfDB.
“This Open Day reaffirms our shared commitment to development that reflects the voices of our citizens,” said Gilson Gomes Pina, National Director for Planning in Cape Verde’s Ministry of Finance.
He called for the formation of a formal tripartite committee to institutionalize this engagement.
Dirce Piloto Varela, Executive Director of Cape Verde’s NGO platform PLATONG, echoed the sentiment, welcoming the initiative as “a significant milestone” for local civil society and urging stronger, more structured partnerships with development partners.
The event included presentations by Mateus Felisberto, AfDB Country Economist, who outlined Cape Verde’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) and portfolio operations, and by Traore Minemba, Senior Civil Society Officer for West Africa, who highlighted how the Bank is working to embed civil society in its programming through the Civil Society Engagement (CSE) Action Plan 2024–2028.
Mrs. Toure, representing the AfDB’s civil society department, emphasized that the Action Plan institutionalizes CSO engagement as central to inclusive development. “We are committed to working more closely with civil society to make our interventions more accountable and impactful,” she noted.
Key recommendations from the Open Day included building CSO capacity on AfDB procurement processes, ensuring CSO participation in high-level policy dialogues, and establishing multi-stakeholder platforms to support inclusive business creation.
The Open Day is one of several such events planned under the Bank’s 2024–2028 Action Plan to ensure country-level civil society engagement across Regional Member Countries (RMCs).
