Praia, Feb. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The Cabo Verdean prime minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, announced on Monday a government reshuffle that separates the ministries of finance and business development and changes names in the government's executive.
According to a government statement, the ministry of finance and business development "will become just the ministry of finance", and will remain under the leadership of the deputy prime minister, Olavo Correia.
At the same time, a ministry for investment promotion and business development will be created, focussed on these issues and entrusted to Eurico Correia Monteiro, who will head the sector's public institutions: Cabo Verde Trade Invest, Pro-Empresa, Pro-Garantee, Pro-Capital, the Sovereign Fund and the Institute for Employment and Professional Training (IEFP).
"The deputy prime minister will be more available for the economic coordination of mainstream policies that contribute to macroeconomic stability, growth and employment," the government said in the same statement.
Another organisational change concerns the communities portfolio, which will become the responsibility of the minister of foreign affairs, cooperation and regional integration, José Filomeno Monteiro.
The current minister for communities, Jorge Santos, is no longer in charge of this portfolio, but will remain in charge of the ministry of the sea, which he was in charge of.
Two secretariats of state are also being abolished: that of business development, which was held by Adalgisa Vaz, and that of higher education, which was held by Eurídice Monteiro, both of whom are leaving the government.
In addition, some names have been replaced by others: Jorge Figueiredo is the new minister of health, replacing Filomena Gonçalves, while José Luís Sá Nogueira is the new minister for tourism and transport, a post that was previously held by Carlos Santos.
Vítor Coutinho is the new minister for infrastructure, spatial planning and housing, succeeding Eunice Silva, and Eurico Correia Monteiro will lead the modernisation of the state and public administration (combined with the ministry for investment promotion and business development), replacing Edna Oliveira.
"With this reshuffle, the government is now made up of the prime minister, deputy prime minister, fifteen ministers and five secretaries of state," reads the statement.
The government reshuffle had already been announced by the prime minister during a meeting of the national leadership of the Movement for Democracy (MpD), the party he chairs and whose parliamentary majority supports the government.
In January, the national leadership of the MpD analysed the electoral defeat in the December 2024 local elections, in which it lost the majority of municipalities to the African Party for the Independence of Cabo Verde (PAICV, the parliamentary opposition).
"The leader of the MpD guaranteed changes in the party and the government that will strengthen the organisation, the political fight and the confidence of Cabo Verdeans," announced the final communiqué of the meeting, which renewed confidence in Ulisses Correia e Silva as the party's candidate in the 2026 legislative elections.
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