Cape Verde, an investor's paradise

Cape Verde's tropical climate, yet without rainy or hurricane season, its friendly and welcoming people, music and traditions and of course the beautiful long white sandy beaches have turned Cape Verde into one of the fastest growing tourist destination world wide. Today, tourism accounts for more than 20% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) on average. In addition to this, tourism-related services account for almost half of Cape Verde's GDP.

Cape Verde aims to welcome one million tourists by 2022

Cape Verde is already a favorite holiday destination for many Europeans. In 2018, Cape Verde welcomed over 765.000 tourists which represents a growth of almost 7% compared to the previous year.

The country's government obviously recognizes the importance of the tourism industry and has set up a strategy to further boost the tourism sector, planning to attract one million tourists by 2022. Visa free travel for European citizens, launched beginning of this year, is only one step of the many in achieving this goal.

Currently, Cape Verde counts 4 international airports and benefits from its open skies policy, allowing quality airlines to launch both domestic and international routes from these airports. As part of its strategy, Cape Verde also plans on improving inter-island services, allowing both locals and tourists to easily move around between the Islands.

With recent investments in the aviation industry from both the government as well as international airlines like Icelandair or Binter, Cape Verde continues to extend its role in linking Europe, Africa, North- and South America. The fact that Cape Verde is one of the few African countries with a class 1 certified airport will only support Cape Verde in its ambitions.

Furthermore, there is a new cruise-ship terminal being built and major public investments can be seen in all of the Islands seaports, allowing more and more cruise-ships to drop anchor.

Sustainability is key to the Cape Verde government

The natural and very diverse beauty of Cape Verde is seen by the government as main resource to attract more tourists. The Cape Verde government is therefor working hard to regulate the preservation of its natural heritage. The white sands of its beaches, green islands with tropical gardens and natural parcs, wildlife and marine life will continue to allow tourism to flourish, especially with untouched natural spaces becoming rarer and rarer.

Cape Verde therefor supports the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 14 and has adopted the 2015 concept of Blue Growth and Economy. Made up of 10 Islands and surrounded by 900,000 square kilometres of ocean, Cape Verde considers its waters a vital part of its heritage and places the blue economy at the centre of its tourism industry.

Cape Verde, an investor's heaven

This government support for tourism has created space for large foreign investment. Companies looking to invest in Cape Verde will find themselves spoilt for choice, especially with lucrative government incentives. But also private investors have plenty of opportunities in this newest tourism hot-spot.

With the booming tourism sector, also the Real Estate sector continues to provide safe, but very lucrative investment opportunities, especially on the buy-to-let market. Fixed rental incomes accompanied with fast rising property prices attract investors from all over the world.

Please feel free to contact us for more information about Cape Verde's potential.