Praia, Oct. 17, 2025 (Lusa) - The Cabo Verdean government unit that monitors public companies considers that "significant structural challenges remain" in the sector, "particularly in terms of profitability and risk management," according to a report .
The conclusions are part of the latest Quarterly Performance Report on Cabo Verde's Public Enterprise Sector for the third quarter of 2024 (i.e. published about a year later), prepared by the State Enterprise Monitoring Unit (UASE) and published on Thursday.
"Despite moderate growth in national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2024, the data show that significant structural challenges remain in the Public Enterprise Sector (SPE), particularly in terms of profitability and risk management," the document reads.
Given the context, the Monitoring Unit UASE considers it "imperative to ensure coordinated action between the State and companies, with a focus on good governance policies, financial efficiency and robust risk mitigation mechanisms. The consolidation of the SPE, within a framework of macroeconomic stability and fiscal discipline, will be crucial to ensuring the sustainability and inclusive growth of Cabo Verde in the medium and long term," it concludes.
The report covers 35 public companies and "the results for the third quarter of 2024 reveal a negative trend in most indicators".
Turnover has even grown, but "the main profitability indicators, as well as net income, have deteriorated compared to the same period last year, signalling significant challenges to the sector's financial sustainability", the document states.
Almost half of the wealth created by the sector is concentrated in seven companies (ASA, Electra, Onsec, Emprofac, Enapor IFH and TACV) which, taken together, "recorded a 64.3% reduction in EBIT [operating profit],‘ from around 830 million to 297 million escudos (from €7.5 million to €2.6 million).
On the other hand, equity increased "in a significant manner" due to the financial restructuring of the state-owned electricity company Electra.
Among the seven main companies in the sector, four showed improvements in their risk profiles, two maintained their previous levels and, in the case of the newly created National Electricity System Operator, ONSEC, "it was not possible to carry out a year-on-year assessment", according to the document.
"The aggregate risk profile of the Public Enterprise Sector shows an overall unfavourable trend, with 42.9% of companies assessed as high risk," the report details.
In other parameters, the sector contributed "significantly" to State revenues, with a total amount of 560 million escudos [€5 million] in taxes paid, representing a 41.1% increase over the same period last year", it notes.
According to the report, with regard to liabilities, there is "a continuous effort by the State to ensure the stability of the public business sector and, consequently, the preservation of jobs and family income."
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