Prospects on Cape Verde's accession as a Member with European Union

Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands located along the western coast of the African continent. It enjoys a particularly advantageous geography, as it is located at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and South America being only about 1 hour from Dakar, about 4 hours from Fortaleza in Brazil and Lisbon. The World Bank's Doing Business 2017 report ranks Cape Verde 129th among 190 economies on the ease of doing business, with financing, taxation and bureaucracy as the main constraints affecting business. The country's main economic difficulties remain its constant trade deficit and its dependence to European countries due to its poor natural resource base.The country thus greatly relies on imports for food, fuel and machinery, which renders it vulnerable to external shocks. The economy is also characterized by high unemployment rates, low economic diversification and rising public debt, further explaining the country's external dependency and its reliance on development aid and remittances. This book discovers prospects for accession of Cape Verde as a Member country with the European Union.