The agreement was signed by Portugal's Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and IFC Vice President Ethiopis Tafara, on the sidelines of an informal meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in the US capital, where the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are taking place this week.

The fund was established with a contribution of 1,5 million euros from Portugal and will be managed by the IFC, according to the Ministry of Finance.

"We signed a financing instrument for these countries. Lusophony, the CPLP, and the PALOP [Portuguese-speaking African Countries] are a fundamental axis of Portugal's policy, regardless of the government. It's something that is transversal and consistent across different governments, across different political combinations, and it's very important to us," Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said in Washington.

"These are countries with which we have a very strong historical, cultural, social, and political relationship, with whom we have very significant ties of friendship. They are countries that, in their development, also offer investment and wealth-generating opportunities for Portuguese companies, helping them to increasingly internationalize," he added.

The fund, called `Portugal-IFC Partnership in Lusophone Africa`, is a strategic initiative that aims to strengthen technical cooperation between Portugal and Portuguese-speaking African countries within the scope of the Lusophone Compact, an initiative of which the IFC is a partner.

The initiative "aims to finance fundamental technical assistance activities to leverage the implementation of bankable projects, focused on reducing the infrastructure gap, developing productive sectors and promoting financial inclusion with an approach that integrates social, environmental, gender, and governance dimensions," according to official sources.

The Lusophone Compact for Development Financing is a strategic initiative launched in November 2018 that brings together the African Development Bank Group, Portugal, the PALOP countries and Brazil (since 2024) with the purpose of accelerating sustainable, inclusive and diversified private sector growth in the region.

The Compact aims to mobilize and leverage private investment and public-private partnerships through a combination of financing, guarantees, technical assistance, and policy reforms that eliminate barriers to development.

IFC became a partner of the Lusophone Compact in 2021, considering the common objectives.