new feature!

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s new feature: Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, which will be a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This week we start off with Josephine Sturiale.

And yes, Atlantico Weekly is looking for more entrepreneurs of Cape Verde to interview. Those interested may contact Atlantico Weekly (atlanticoweekly at gmail.com).

POLITICS

So far, three candidates have voiced their desire to govern the municipality of Ribeira Grande de Santo Antão in the 2012 municipal elections. Current Mayor Orlando Delgado, of the MpD, will run for a third term in office, and will have the PAICV’s Manuel Natividade Costa Delgado and independent António Rodrigues as his possible opponents (A Semana).

Minister of Justice José Carlos Correia this morning voiced Cape Verdean authorities’ intention to install an incinerator for illegal drugs and other harmful products in the near future. Correia spoke to journalists during the destruction of more than 1,500 kilograms of cocaine that presented a 96% degree of purity (A Semana).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

INTERNATIONAL

Only after the Portuguese State Budget is approved will it be possible to know to what degree the current crisis in Portugal will affect its cooperation program with Cape Verde, the new Portuguese Ambassador to Cape Verde, Bernardo Lucena, told reporters following a courtesy visit to Prime Minister José Maria Neves (A Semana).

Cape Verde will host on November 23rd, the Thirteenth General Assembly of the International Council of Architects of Portuguese Language countries (CIALP), which will also be attended by representatives from Goa and Macau (Inforpress).

The European Union (EU) has congratulated Cape Verde for ratifying the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ratification makes Cape Verde the 119th State Party to the Rome Statute (Afrique en Ligne).

Carlos de Graca Lopes took over as director of Sao Martinho Prison in Cape Verde in 2001 and ruled with his iron hand, according to a government indictment filed against him in Cape Verde. More than 150 times, the indictment alleges, he ordered or executed the beating and torture of prisoners, including spraying them in the face with water so they could not breathe and handcuffing them to an iron bar for weeks (Los Angeles Times).

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DIASPORA

Waldir Pimenta, a young Cape Verdean with a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Minho in Portugal, has won one of the Fraunhofer Portugal Challenge awards, given by one of Europe’s largest organizations in the realm of research applied to engineering (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of a multi-family residential project for Palmarejo, Praia (source).

ECONOMY

Another roll-on/roll-off vessel will arrive in Cape Verde on Friday, October 28, to provide regular inter-island shipping services. The Tuninha is an investment from French citizen Gérard Ascher and will operate to all islands except Maio and Brava (A Semana).

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AGRI ETC.

The 220 farmers who work around the reservoir formed by the Poilão dam on the island of Santiago, are investing in modern technology to bring fresh products to consumers. Cabbage, manioc, collard greens, corn, beans and bell peppers are some of the many products grown both above and below the reservoir in a revolution that has kept the markets of Santiago nearly always full (A Semana).

AVIATION

White Airways, which leads the charter segment in Portugal’s airline industry, has begun the licensing process to be able to operate regular flights to Cape Verde, Mexico and Cuba. The information came from the airline’s administrator, Rui Almeida, at the Feira das Américas trade fair in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (A Semana).

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REAL ESTATE

Buying a house in the Cape Verde archipelago, located off central Africa’s west coast, has become easier, a survey suggests. The republic is said to have improved its registration procedures for property buying. According to this year’s Doing Business survey, published by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, time limits have been introduced to the country’s land registry. This, it says, will speed up Cape Verde property transactions and prevent unnecessary delays (Assetz).

UTILITIES

The State of Cape Verde, through the Directorate General of the Treasury, has approved a 100 million-escudo loan to water and electricity utility Electra for the implementation of the project for the maintenance of Caterpillar Generators 1 and 2 at the Palmarejo power station in Praia (A Semana).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

POLITICS

Prime Minister José Maria Neves took the reins of the government back in his hands after two weeks recovering from surgery on a slipped disc in Portugal (AW).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

All of those speaking at the opening of  a seminar on “International judiciary cooperation in criminal matters” – Attorney-general Júlio Martins, UN resident coordinator Petra Lanz and Justice Minister José Carlos Correia – cited as an example Operation Speed Boat, carried out by the Judiciary Police in cooperation with various institutions, including the Dutch police (A Semana).

Cabinet spokesman Jorge Tolentino also affirmed that the institutions that exist to fight terrorism and money laundering “are already at a mature phase,” proof of which is the international cooperation that, at least in part, led to last week’s record drug seizure in Praia (A Semana).

Dutch police said that a big Capeverdean-Dutch drugs dealer and money launderer was arrested on Santiago, as part of Operation Speedboat, which was a joint Capeverdean and Rotterdam police and justice operation (AW).

Cape Verde is the latest Member State to accede to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) that prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Statute will enter into force for Cape Verde on 1 January 2012, bringing the total number of States parties to 119 (UN).

DIASPORA

Miriam Correia, a Cape Verdean model hailing from Porto Novo, on the island of Santo Antão, is a hit both on the catwalks and in the magazines of England. After having finished among the top ten contestants in the Next Model 2011 competition, the 21-year-old model is beginning to feel at ease in the fashion world. Last week, she posed for major British magazine Grazia (A Semana).

FOGO

Three retail establishments were held up on Mosteiros this weekend. The thieves made off which a computer, a portable DVD player, a mobile phone and cash (A Semana).

SAL

The number of drug trafficking cases reported on Sal has gone up, according to data from the National Police, with 26 more cases having been registered between January and September of 2011 than during the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number crimes committed against persons and property has dropped (A Semana).

The films selected for the Cinema Festival, which began October 13 on the island of Sal, have begun being screened. The world premier of Olá Vizinho (Hello Neighbor) by Cape Verdean-American filmmaker Claire Andrade-Watkins took place on Friday at the ASA Cinema in Espargos (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

The Ribeira Grande de Santiago municipal chamber will go to the Cape Verde Stock Exchange this month for a 320 million-escudo future bond loan in order to build a new city in the municipality. The registration process, according to the general coordinator of the Cape Verde Stock Exchange, Manuel Lima, is already under way at the Bank of Cape Verde (A Semana).

The electricity shortage assailing the city of Praia has vendors and small-scale retailers desolated. As they calculate the losses resulting from the deterioration of the products they intended to sell, they find themselves forced to purchase and produce less or sell only heat-resistant products (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Next year’s municipal elections have already got ambitions stirring in Paúl, on the island of Santo Antão. Speculation has already taken hold of the streets and alleys regarding the names of those hoping to succeed current mayor Vera Almeida in what are expected to be the liveliest elections in recent memory in the municipality. The most probable scenario, however, is that of a replay of the previous battle between the PAICV’s Almeida and the MpD’s António Aleixa (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Cape Verde is among 12 economies that have improved the ease of doing business the most across several areas of regulation as measured by the yearly report issued by the Worldbank. The country went up 10 places from 129th to 119th. The data on Cape Verde can be found here.

Remittances from émigrés between the months of January and July this year grew 26% in comparison with the same period in 2010, despite the economic and financial crisis that has hit various host countries. The only country from which Cape Verdean émigrés sent less money than last year was the United States, according to provisional data from the Bank of Cape Verde (A Semana).

Promoting Cape Verde is the main purpose of tourism and investment agency Cabo Verde Investimentos president José Duarte and executive administrator Nuno Miguel Martins, who will be in the Chinese special administrative territory of Macau between the 20th and 23rd of this month. The two will participate in the 16th edition of the Macau International Fair (A Semana).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

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AGRI ETC.

The rain that has been falling in several regions of Cape Verde has revived the hopes of the country’s farmers. The production of beans and tubers may now be guaranteed, while the ground water table is being replenished. São Nicolau, Santiago, Fogo and Brava are the islands where it has been raining, but the impact of the precipitation on the corn crops, which in the low-altitude zones of these islands is practically lost, cannot yet be assessed (A Semana).

The Association of Farmers of Chã das Caldeiras Cooperative has begun the process of transforming some 60 metric tons of quince into eau de vie. The cooperative’s officials expect a total production of 3,000 liters of the spirit, which will hit the market before the end of the year (A Semana).

AVIATION

Now that TACV Cabo Verde Airlines is once again the only carrier operating domestic flights in Cape Verde, it has decided to raise ticket prices (A Semana).

All European airlines may fly between the European Union and Cape Verde, now that the European Parliament has ratified the horizontal accord between the economic bloc and our country. The agreement is a sort of “open sky” accord, but with some regular limitations. For example, European carriers may not embark or disembark passengers in whatever EU country they wish, nor may they carry out domestic flights in Cape Verde (A Semana).

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ENERGY

The Santiago wind farm, located at Monte Sao Filipe, the design project of which was the responsibility of Cape Verdean company Cabeólica, was due to be inaugurated this week (Macauhub).

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POLITICS

Former Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires has been awarded this year’s $5m (£3.2m) Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa. The prize committee said Mr Pires, who stepped down in August, had helped make the archipelago off the West African coast a “model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity” (BBC).

The $5m prize for “achievement in African leadership” created by Mo Ibrahim five years ago has at last found a new recipient. After two years of not deeming anyone worthy enough, the committee that picks winners on behalf of the Anglo-Sudanese telecoms billionaire chose Pedro Verona Pires (The Economist).

Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves has been released from the hospital following surgery on a slipped disk Tuesday, October 4 in Portugal, and is expected to undergo a “quick” recovery period in Lisbon before returning to Cape Verde (A Semana).

INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde is the second best governed country in Africa, according to the list announced by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation on Monday. Cape Verde obtained a total score of 79 out of a possible 100, coming second only to Mauritius (82) (A Semana).

Cape Verde has for the first time been contemplated with scholarships made available by Australia through its AusAID program. Two Cape Verdean students have been chosen for two of the 1,000 master’s scholarships offered to 49 African countries (A Semana).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

Cape Verde police seized about 1.5 tonnes of pure cocaine worth about $100 million in one of the biggest drug busts in the region this year (Reuters).

The three individuals – only the first names of two of whom, Quirino and Paulo, are known so far – arrested in Operation Speed Boat over the weekend have been ordered held in preventative detention by a Praia district court judge. The three have been taken to São Martinho prison outside the Cape Verdean capital (A Semana).

President of the National Assembly (AN), Basilio Mosso Ramos, today said that the seizure of the largest ever recorded amount of drug in the country is further proof of the “undeniable” will of Cape Verde to combat organized crime (Inforpress).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

BOAVISTA

Families of Britain, gather round. I have found it – the holy grail of holiday destinations. It’s hot. It’s cheap. And it’s less than a six-hour flight away. I’m talking about… Cape Verde! (Cue embarrassed silence, and some shuffling) (The Independent).

FOGO

Rachel Banger is getting used to life in America once again after spending two years on a volcanic island as a Peace Corps volunteer. Rachel lived and worked with the municipal government on the island of Fogo to help Cape Verdeans develop business skills to improve their incomes (NJ).

The sea turtle preservation campaign on the beaches of the island of Fogo has begun to bear fruit. So far this year, some 700 hatchlings have been returned to their natural habitat thanks to the Vitó Project (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

The constant blackouts plaguing the city of Praia in recent days have led to a rush for candles and, as a consequence, a shortage of the item in supermarkets and grocery stores in the capital. In the few stores in which candles can still be found, the price of the product has nearly tripled from the usual 60-70 escudos to 200-210 a box. One company has even decided to purchase candles on the island of Sal to resell in Praia (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Amadeu Cruz has decided to run for a third term as mayor of Porto Novo, after his fellow party members apparently convinced him that he is the best candidate to guarantee a victory for the MpD in the municipality. Losing little time, Cruz has begun intensifying contacts and admits to A Semana Online that he continues “available to serve Porto Novo,” the largest of Santo Antão’s three municipalities (A Semana).

Sad. This is the best word to describe the scenario of desolation and abandonment at Passagem park in Paúl valley, on the island of Santo Antão. Once considered one of the island’s main ex-libris, this former tourist resort has long since shut down and is “crying out” for help (A Semana).

The first stone was laid for the construction of the Training Center for Food Processing at Alfonso Martin, in the municipalityof Ribeira Grande on the island of Santo Antao (Inforpress).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Butiki di Pexi – Praia Fish for the Paiol district of Praia (Source).

ECONOMY

Cape Verdean investment agency, Cabo Verde Investimentos (CVI) between January and September approved foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$162 million (Macauhub).

The third edition of the International Construction and Housing Fair (FICH) was the least visited and least impressive so far. Stands featuring nothing new in terms of technology or even materials, lazy display designs and a meager public resulted in a fair far from what could be considered a success. Organizers, for their part, point out the workshops, lectures and technological discussions that took place alongside the event to show that the 11 million escudos spent on the fair were worth the effort (A Semana).

Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique will have distribution centres to make the sale of products from northeast Brazil easier, the director of Ceará Trade Brasil said in Fortaleza (Macauhub).

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AVIATION

More than one million passengers passed through Cape Verde’s airports between January and September of this year, a 10.3% increase over the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2011 alone, growth was 7.6% (4.3% in domestic traffic and 11.6% in international traffic) compared to the same period last year (A Semana).

Private Cape Verdean company Halcyonair Airways has cancelled all of its flights. The company’s only operational aircraft has been parked at Amílcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Sal. Overdue payments to the company that owns the aircraft, an ATR, could be the reason for the stoppage (A Semana).

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines will soon operate two weekly flights from Praia to the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza (A Semana).

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BANKING

The manager of the Porto Novo branch of commercial bank Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA), Alcindo Rocha, was arrested over the weekend and taken to Ribeirinha prison on the island of São Vicente for having embezzled more than 100 million escudos from the bank agency he had been heading for the past several years (A Semana).

Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA) issued a communiqué to clarify that the embezzlement of monies that took place at its Porto Novo branch was detected by an internal audit carried out “based on suspicions of illicit activities practiced by former manager Alcindo Rocha.” The BCA also informed that the acts practiced by the former manager “had no repercussions on other clients,” given that “all potential losses are being compensated by the bank” (A Semana).

FISHERIES

The government of Cape Verde has approved the creation of a commission to negotiate the Cabnave/China National Fisheries Corporation (CNFC) and methods of setting up the Fishing Logistics Centre (Macauhub).

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TOURISM

The promotion of Cape Verde as a tourist destination should be a shared task. This, at least, is the decision that came out of the first official meeting between the current CEO of investment and tourism promotion agency Cabo Verde Investimentos and the Chamber of Tourism (A Semana).

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POLITICS

Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves is doing “well” after undergoing surgery on in Portugal for a slipped disc, and is expected to be released from the hospital soon, according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office (A Semana).

The Ministry of Internal Administration will launch a national highway prevention and safety campaign Friday, October 7. In addition to awareness-raising, the campaign includes repressive measures (A Semana).

Minister of Tourism and Energy Humberto Brito called on the populace to pay its bills from water and electricity utility Electra, as “without payment there cannot be any service.” The cabinet minister also announced that “all of Electra’s clients are georeferenced” in order to combat “electricity theft and fraud.” Even so, no date has been ventured for the end of the constant power cuts in the country (A Semana).

The Supreme Court of Justice has organized itself in to three specialized sections in order to quicken the resolution of the cases pending in Cape Verde’s highest court. Each section, according to the law, should have three judges (A Semana).

DIASPORA

Vinny deMacedo (R-Plymouth) is the highest-ranking Cape Verdean elected official inMassachusetts and charts his own course in Statehouse (Bay State Banner).

The New England cities of Brockton and New Bedford, home to large communities of Capeverdean origin, have begun building economic ties with Cape Verde (EnterpriseNews).

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CULTURE

Singer Mayra Andrade will receive the 201l Revelation Prize from the Luso-Brazilian Foundation. The award distinguishes the captivating style with which the young Cape Verdean takes the Portuguese language to the four corners of the world (A Semana).

Between October 6 and 14, the Portuguese Cultural Center in Praia will feature the photography exhibition “Portas de Cabo Verde” (“Doors of Cape Verde”), by Portuguese photographer João Rodrigues. The photographer came across most of the doors portrayed on the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão (A Semana).

BOAVISTA

Cape Verde was the most popular country on an on-line real-estate investment channel in September, according to TheMoveChannel.com’s Investment Watch. The Santa Monica Beach Resort, on the Cape Verdean island of Boa Vista, was August’s “most attractive investment” (A Semana).

The Boa Vista wind farm will be operational by the month of December. The installation of equipment is currently under way so that, by the end of the year, the infrastructure will be able to begin producing an average of 2.5 megawatts of electricity (A Semana).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE, PART 5: SAL

Part 5 of the Grand Tour of Cape Verde has arrived, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands. Read the chapter about Sal Island.

SAL

The O’Grille Beach Bar & Restaurant on the island of Sal appears on the list of 50 best beach bars in the world, according to CNN. The on-line catalogue, organized by the American Cable News Network, features an extensive description of the establishments included on the list (A Semana).

Coming soon to a theatre on Sal: from October 13th the Cape Verde International Film Festival CVIFF.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Hotel Burcan for Cidade Velha, Santiago, by Gersilio Lima (blog).

ECONOMY

“With the adverse international economic context, Cape Verde is running the risk of falling to the trap of being a middle-income country.” This was one of the points focused upon by Minister of Finances Cristina Duarte during the Conference of African Finance Ministers in the annual meetings of the World Bank and the Internal Monetary Union, which took place in the United States (A Semana).

Representatives of Cape Verdean and international institutions will seek alternatives today and tomorrow (October 6 and 7) for placing Cape Verdean-made products on the European Union market now that the country no longer benefits from the prerogatives the EU grants to those nations included on the Least Developed Countries list (A Semana).

Ninety-nine companies were licensed by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services Sotavento (CCISS), under the project for simplified licensing for the Wholesale sector, in 48 hours (Inforpress).

OPINION

Cape Verde must be extremely cautious at this stage of its economic evolution. Formerly as an LDC, Cape Verde was provided with hundreds of millions of dollars of grants by high-income economic powers. That money did not have to be repaid. However, as a consequence of the promotion to lower middle-income country in the world economic order, Cape Verde is now expected to stand on her own two feet. It is like when a child grows from a baby that has to be fed by its parents to the young-adult stage and is expected to be self-reliant (InvestinCV).

AVIATION

Senegal Airlines, which began activities in January of 2011 with four aircrafts (three Airbuses and one ATR), officially entered the Cape Verdean market with a promotional campaign that will last until December 31 (A Semana).

FISHERIES

The fishing accord authorizing European Union vessels to fish in Cape Verde’s Exclusive Economic Zone will bring economic and social advantages to the country, said the president of the National Fishing Development Institute (INPD) (A Semana).

A technical problem in the freezing tunnel at the Cova de Inglesa Fishing Complex on the island of São Vicente has fishing vessel operators concerned. Because of the problem, the fishing complex is refusing to take fish for freezing, and no date has been ventured for the unit’s repair (A Semana).

MEDIA

“O Popular” is the name of the new Cape Verdean newspaper, which should be on newsstands during the month of October, as guaranteed by the owner and director, Antonio Manuel Delgado (Inforpress).

PORTS & LOGISTICS

The ship Nossa Senhora da Graça, owned by shipping company Diallo e Macedo, was christened in a ritual heavy with meaning for the vessel’s owners, who for years have been trying to fulfill their dream of opening up a passenger and cargo transportation route between Cape Verde and continental Africa (A Semana).

The Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará (FIEC) in Brazil wants a direct navigational route between the Brazilian city of Fortaleza and Cape Verde to make trade easier between Brazil and Africa, said the chairman of the Federation, Roberto Macedo (Macauhub).

The National Company for Administration of Ports (Enapor)  presented a set of four projects labelled “important” for the company and the development of Cape Verde. The chairman of the board of Enapor called for “urgency” with respect to the proposed deepwater port and container transshipment center for the Middle Atlantic in Sao Vicente, in order to gain advantage over competitors like Dakar and Las Palmas (AW).

TOURISM

Emanuel Almeida, inaugurated at the post of Director General of Tourism, has promised to perform with innovation and boldness to deal with anything favorable to the international tourism sector (Inforpress).

UTILITIES

Water and electricity utility Electra has contracted a company to cut off electricity of clients who do not pay their bills, at a time when blackouts and water shortages have become increasingly frequent and lengthy, particularly on the islands of Santiago and São Vicente (A Semana).