The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) - Cape Verde program marked three years of existence on July 4. In 2005, the Republic of Cape Verde became the second country in the world to benefit from funds from the United States government program.

On July 4, 2005, the Cape Verdean and American governments signed the compact attributing a total of 110 million US dollars for the development of projects in three main areas: hydrographic basin management and agricultural support, infrastructures (ports, roads and bridges), and private sector development.

Three years down the road, a total of 47 dikes and seven reservoirs have been built in the municipalities of Mosteiros and Paúl as a part of the hydrographic basin management and agricultural support program, and four demonstration fields have been created in the valleys of Fajã (on the island of São Nicolau) and Paúl (on Santo Antão).

Also on Santo Antão, the program has financed the purchase of equipment for a National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (INIDA) laboratory aimed at combating the island's millipede plague and eventually lifting the embargo on the island's agricultural products. In the realm of the development of agricultural services, an international company has been contracted to train some 800 farmers, elaborate a project for packaging and conservation centers and provide technical assistance in the installation of drip irrigation systems on 111 hectares of land.

In the environmental and social domains, various environmental management plans are being implemented, and, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture and the National Statistics Institute, inquiries have been carried out in the Mosteiros, Paúl and Fajã hydrographic basins. In the realm of infrastructures, particular highlights have been the asphalting of the Assomada-Rincão road and the beginning of work on the Órgãos-Pedra Badejo road. On the island of Santo Antão work has already begun on the construction of two bridges in Paúl and a road in the village of Eito.

Environmental and social management plans are also being implemented for each of the highway and bridge projects, with a particular highlight being the HIV-AIDS awareness-raising campaigns involving workers and the communities affected by the construction work.

Studies and projects for phase one of the Praia sea port modernization and expansion project have already been concluded, and the proposals from construction companies that bid to carry out the projects are currently in evaluation. Work will begin in October of 2008. The environmental impact study is in the process of being approved, and the studies and projects for phase 2 are currently being finalized.

In the private sector development Project, negotiations are currently under way for the hiring of a consultant to provide assistance to Cape Verdean partners in the creation and operationalization of a Private Credit Information Bureau.

In terms of financial sector reform, technical assistance is being provided to the Ministry of Finances, a project that involves the Bank of Cape Verde and the Cape Verde Stock Exchange as well.