The Cape Verde islands could become a major hub for international trade and commerce, a leading diplomat has said.

Marianne Myles, the new US ambassador to the west African nation, stated that the country is situated along an important global shipping route.

In addition, she said the country has established a special relationship with the US, the European Union and has become a member of the World Trade Organisation.

Therefore, she believes it could become a "transatlantic bridge" for trade, investment and tourism.

Ms Myles commented: "Cape Verde is a success story in Africa."

"[The country] has made major improvements and achieved high levels of performance."

She added that Cape Verde has becoming an African "success story", as it is one of the oldest and strongest democracies in the continent.

According to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Cape Verde's economy grew by 6.6 per cent last year.

Figures cited by MacauHub show that it is expecting this rate of growth to increase to 7.6 per cent in 2008.