Assetz® News - Building Cape Verde for the future

Building Cape Verde for the future

9th October 2008 |

Cape Verde has been a major story among emerging property markets in recent years, with the archipelago becoming a major holiday destination and a new hotspot at the same time. These interrelated trends have been due in no small part to the expansion of the air access to the islands, both in terms of new airports and new services, as well as developments on the ground.

For those keen on property investment in the islands, it may be encouraging to learn that there is no let-up in developments that are aimed at pushing the property sector forward.

One of these will actually start this weekend, according to Macauhub. Praia's port is to be redeveloped and work on the project will start this Saturday, the port authority's chairman has told newspaper A Semana. Last month Macauhub revealed that this project - which is being funded through a European Development Bank loan - is intended to extend the port's capacity, enabling it to speed up the import of building materials. In short, it is a development that can give the property sector another boost.

As for the firms operating in the sector itself, they too have constructed something new - their own trade association. Named Promitur, this body has been set up to provide a voice for the industry, helping it to communicate more closely with the Cape Verde government and help those involved in the industry with all aspects of it, Propertywire reported this week.

Commenting on the news, the managing director of Cape Verde property Adrian Lillywhite told the news provider: "The founding of Promitur is excellent news for Cape Verde as it will not only aid those professionals in the property industry with government regulations, it will also act as a point of contact for those clients who are interested in buying property in Cape Verde with any uncertainties they may have and improve the market overall with encouraging infrastructure improvements."

He concluded: "All in all, the new industry body should help promote Cape Verde as an excellent destination for property investment and one that is closely regulated and therefore secure."

Many will see the founding of a trade association as the latest step forward in the establishment of the property sector in Cape Verde as a serious, long-term contributor to the life and economy of the islands. The upgrade of a new port that will directly aid the property development process can only add to this.

All of which, naturally, contributes to the Cape Verdean economy and is in turn dependent on it. But the news here is positive as well. While some nations struggle with the credit crunch, the latest International Monetary Fund health check on the islands concluded that the government is following all the right sort of policies and that a growth rate of between six and seven per cent in the next year is a perfectly reasonable prospect.

Taking all these trends into account, property investors may think of these islands in the sun as quite a prospect themselves.