Praise for Cape Verde

The Cape Verde islands have for some time now come to be regarded as a good news story. What was once an uninhabited archipelago sitting in the north Atlantic 375 miles from the African mainland is now considered important enough to be one of the ports of call for US secretary of state Hilary Clinton.

It is evidence that the country has come a long way. Once an outpost for slavery and under Portuguese rule until 1975, the country is now a flourishing democracy, with a growing economy that gained accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2008, saw its first UNESCO world heritage site status awarded to former capital Cidade Velha this year and is, perhaps most importantly, a stable democratic system.

The US was keen to praise this point when Mrs Clinton visited, CNN reported, not least as it was critical of other places she had been that have fallen short - Kenya being one example - with the secretary of state saying: "Kenya has not fulfilled its economic promise because it hasn't yet realised fully what it means to have a functioning, dynamic democracy, and a free press and an independent judiciary."

In contrast, US ambassador to Cape Verde Marianne Myles, speaking as Mrs Clinton was about to meet prime minister Pedro Neves, remarked: "Cape Verde enjoys a stable democratic system, high transparency and low corruption."

All that, of course, has been aired frequently in many quarters, such as in the 2009 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom, which praised many of the developments made by Cape Verde in this area.

But for investors in Cape Verde, the solidity of democracy and good economic and regulatory practices is not enough. What truly brings many in is the beauty and location of the country, with its beaches, culture, sunshine and scenery.

All of this continues to attract many people, which may be why travel website TTG Live listed the archipelago as one of the hot destinations for this winter. It compared the islands to the better-known Canaries, but with a cultural twist, stating: "Fly for six hours rather than four and you can be in Cape Verde, soaking up the ambience of an African island nation."

It noted that at present the one UK tour operator to fly direct to the islands is Thompson, but investors may look to the future with confidence by remembering that just a few years ago there were no flights directly from the UK.

So Cape Verde goes on attracting praise and admiration, for both its natural qualities and its economic and political developments. Those who choose to invest in Santiago may find that they can help write its next chapter.

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

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