Cabo Verde Economic Update, March 2024: Blue Economy: The Latent Potential of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde’s economy has recovered well from the significant challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic highlighted the country’s inherent vulnerabilities, which include the economy’s heavy reliance on tourism, lack of shock buffers, and the risks posed by underperforming SOEs. Climate change impacts are adding to these vulnerabilities. Against this backdrop, this Economic Update reviews the state of the economy in 2023, and projects forward to 2024 to assess the short-term outlook, making policy recommendations for macroeconomic strengthening. It also looks in depth at the potential embodied in the blue economy – the ocean, fisheries and aquaculture – for diversifying Cabo Verde’s economy and increasing its resilience, offering policy options for making the most of this potential.