On January 1st the Islanders of Cape Verde had additional reasons to celebrate; the day marked the official transition for their country from the United Nations (UN) designation of Lower Income Country (LIC) to a Middle Income Country (MIC).

The UN ascribed the MIC tag to countries that have achieved significant improvement in the Human Development Index (HDI) and have a Gross Domestic Product between US$1025 and US$6055. Cape Verde had achieved these conditions at the end of 2004 but had to go through a three years of transition monitoring to ensure the sustainability of the improvements.

Strong performance since the 1980s has since Cape Verde achieved a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of US$2130 in 2006 according to figures from the World Bank.

Additionally Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth stands at 6.5 percent in 2006 driven by strong public and private investment (with significant foreign direct investment) mainly in infrastructure development and tourism. Growth rates in 2007 are projected at 6.9 percent and Foreign direct investment increased by 60 percent in 2006.

The growth has seen poverty in the Islands decline by one-fourth over the last decade and the human development index has improved from 0.59 in 1990 to 0.72 in 2006. Adult literacy rates are high (approximately 76 percent in 2004), and life expectancy at birth (71) is the third highest in Africa.

It is not all good news as concerns remain about the vulnerability of Cape Verde to rising energy prices and the ability to sustain the growth of its GDP.

Elevation to MIC club will see Cape Verde joining the existing 13 African members Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Tunisia.