The NAMA Support Project Promotion of Electric Mobility in Cabo Verde, which is locally known by its Portuguese acronym ProMEC, was formally launched in a virtual meeting on 16 March 2021. During the launch, which was attended by approximately 60 stakeholders from the public and private sectors, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Energy, Alexandre Monteiro stressed that the project will greatly contribute to the implementation of Cabo Verde’s Electric Mobility Policy and Action Plan adopted in February 2019.
Mr. Monteiro stated that the government is promoting electric vehicles (EV) to decarbonize the road transport sector “that absorbs approximately 30% of the total domestic consumptions of imported fossil fuels”. These fuels can be substituted with electricity that is locally generated with renewable energy. Renewable energy is set to contribute 54% to the country’s electricity mix by 2030, as explained by Rito Évora, the National Director of Industry, Commerce and Energy (the share was 18.4% in 2019). The government of Cabo Verde therefore set itself the objective of converting the public administration fleet to electric vehicles by 2030, and phase out conventional vehicles by 2050, which is a first on the African continent.
The main activities of the project, which is being implemented jointly by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Energy (MICE), were introduced by Lucius Mayer-Tasch (GIZ). They include a rebate programme for EVs and EV charging stations, support for the establishment of a basic public charging infrastructure, and electric bus demonstration projects.
During the launch of ProMEC, Mr. Monteiro and Mr. Evora also stressed that there are strong synergies between electric mobility and the energy transition. He revealed that the government intends to promote smart charging, as well as the use of EV batteries, for supporting the grid integration of higher shares of renewable energy using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology in the future. These aspects will also be addressed by the NSP (ProMEC).
Mr. Pedro Campo Llopis from the EU delegation in Cabo Verde, Ms. Hannah Steinfeldt representing the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and Ms. Charlotte Ojinnaka from the British Embassy in Senegal welcomed the launch of the project on behalf of the Donors of the NAMA Facility in their opening remarks.
More information including a recording of the speeches and presentations made during the launch is available on MICE’s Facebook page, on the site of the news agency Inforpress, as well as in the coverage of the launch by the TV stations TCV and Record TV.
Learn more about the Electric Mobility Project in Cabo Verde.