Cape Verde's place in the lusaphone world

That Cape Verde's origins, history and culture are rooted in Portugal to a large extent is utterly undeniable. Discovered by the Portuguese and technically a part of the country before 1975, the archipelago still has close links of language, culture, shared history and architecture.

By default, it has these not just with one country on the western flank of the Iberian Peninsula, but with a scattering of nations around the world. It is a heritage it shares with Brazil, a country vast in both size and population, with fellow African nations such as Angola and Mozambique, plus tiny outposts like Macau. Like the British Commonwealth, the lusaphone world also holds an imperial legacy in which nations with much in common are also highly diverse.

 It may be imagined that Cape Verde is one of the more junior countries in the group, though of course never as much as Macao, which remained as a Portuguese colony before transferring sovereignty to China two years prior to neighbouring Hong Kong. Yet Cape Verde may be a country of some significance in this group.

This is not quite so in trade terms, for as Macauhub recently reported, the value of trade within the eight-member bloc of Portuguese-speaking countries is $13 billion (£7.9 billion) a year, which is only a fraction of the total trading activity of Brazil and Portugal.

 Yet despite this, it is to Cape Verde that it has been suggested the bloc looks as an example of how to do business. In a separate report, the Portuguese-Brazilian chambers of commerce has said the way trade has built up between the archipelago and the South American country is an example of how Brazil should trade with the other members of the bloc.

 Chairman of the body Romulo Soares said Cape Verde - with which Brazil's trade is worth $18 million a year - was particularly important in the trading relationship as a provider of a "geo-strategic platform" that "can be a bridge between South America, Europe and Continental Africa."

 While all this may be of particular concern directly to the lusaphone world, it may also be of keen interest to investors from elsewhere, including Britain, since the geopolitical importance of Cape Verde described by Mr Soares could help its overall growth, therefore making it a more valuable place to invest in.

 To this may be added other improving factors, such as the "enhanced trade freedom because of much-reduced tariffs" reported in the Heritage Foundation 2009 report on the country. Put together, Cape Verde appears to be offering some interesting trading opportunities - both for those who speak Portuguese and those who don't.

This article has been brought to you be Sambala; the developer for Cape Verde Property.

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