The African Development Bank and the governments of Equatorial Guinea and Portugal have signed a country-specific memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the Lusophone Compact, which aims to accelerate private sector development in Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa, known as PALOPs.

Equatorial Guinea is the sixth and final PALOP country to sign the Compact after Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The Equatorial Guinea MOU identifies a list of the potential private sector and PPP investment projects, which will be reviewed by the Bank, Equatorial Guinea, and Portugal and prioritized for further support. It also includes an indicative list of technical assistance projects to accelerate private sector and PPP growth. 

The Lusophone Compact is a financing platform that provides risk mitigation, investment products, and technical assistance to accelerate private sector development in Lusophone African countries. In Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere, project preparation has been identified as one of the main impediments to making projects bankable.

The Portuguese Government has allocated EUR400 million (US$441.078 million) in guarantees and other risk-sharing mechanisms in the 2019 national budget to support the implementation of the Compact, Grainha do Vale stated.