Cape Verde Minister of Tourism and Transport, and Minister of Maritime Economy since January 2018, previous Minister of Economy and Employment1 for the period of April 20016 – December 2017, José Gonçalves is a Trade, Investment and Private Sector Development specialist with over 30 years of international experience in project and program development and management.
Minister Gonçalves in charge of two ministries on two different islands is among the Cabinet’s senior ministers and oversees a portfolio of very important key economic areas including tourism, air and maritime transportation, maritime economy, and fisheries.
Additionally, the Minister exercises oversight over regulatory agencies and public institutes in the areas under his supervision as well as guidance over state-owned enterprises either totally or partially owned by the state. Among his professional achievements, Minister Gonçalves exercised leadership role in the design and implementation of Cabo Verde’s Economic Reforms Program in late 1990’s, leading to the establishment of the country’s first sovereign wealth fund and later culminating in the official “graduation” of the country from Less Developed Country (LDC) to Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC) in 2008.
His vast experience in high-level international advisory roles includes senior advisor to Prime Ministers, Senior Ministers, and CEOs of enterprises and institutions in developing and transition economies.
Another major achievement was his leadership role as second youngest department head and Associate Vice-President in the Organizing Committee of the successful 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Minister Gonçalves is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. He holds a PhD degree from the University of California Los Angeles in Comparative International Education and is a Graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business
