Growing Small Island Economies: The Case of Cape Verde

Country Brief Number 1
October 2012

Growing Small Island Economies: The Case of Cape Verde

Author: Shahid Yusuf

The purpose of this brief is to examine the medium-term prospects and the growth drivers of an island economy, Cape Verde. In October 2012, it was one of the front runners among the small states and, having achieved middle-income status, was raising its sights and exploring strategies to sustain its growth. Dani Rodrik captured the dark mood of many forecasters when he opined, “the world economy is entering a difficult new longer term phase – one that will be substantially less hospitable to economic growth than possibly any other period since the end of World War II.”