POLITICS

The Presidency of the Republic will temporarily move to the National Press building just meters away from the Presidential Palace in Praia’s central Plateau district in order to allow restoration work to be carried out in the latter (A Semana).

The Cape Verdean government plans soon to approve a new Tax Benefit Code in order to make the country more attractive to investment, the Minister for Tourism, Industry and Energy, Humberto Brito said (Macauhub).

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INTERNATIONAL

The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation has signed a five-year, $66.2 million aid agreement with Cape Verde to reform the West African nation’s water, sanitation and land-management sectors and foster economic growth. The $41.1 million portion of the new agreement will focus on helping to make Cape Verde’s national regulatory institutions more financially sound and transparent. It will help transform utilities into independent, high-performing commercial organizations and improve the quality and reach of water and sanitation services for Cape Verdean households and businesses (allAfrica).

China has granted Cape Verde a US$51 million loan to build social housing per an agreement signed in Beijing. With an annual interest rate of 2 percent and a maturity of 20 years, the loan follows the framework agreement signed in Praia last 4 January by the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, José Luís Rocha, and China’s ambassador in Cape Verde, Li Chunhua (Macauhub).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Businessman José Teixeira, who is suspected of money laundering in the Operation Speed Boat case, has been released by a Praia district court judge after posting 10 million escudos in bail. He will be required to report to authorities and is prohibited from leaving the country (A Semana).

DIASPORA

Ed Andrade, an American activist and organizer during the turbulent Civil Rights era of the 50′s, 60′s, 70′s also worked for the benefit of Cape Verde in the ensuing years. A book about his life has now been published.

Boaventura Dias is a name that may not mean a lot to most Angolans, but is a household name for many residents of Malanje following the many years he has lived in the city. The only Cape Verdean traditions he has retained are his taste for musical styles such as funaná, morna and coladeira and the Cape Verdean language, which none of his 16 children has learned (A Semana).

Wareham, Massachusetts, public schools celebrated Cape Verdean culture (Wareham Villagesoup).

BOAVISTA

RIU Hotels & Resorts has signed a collaboration agreement with the NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000, an organisation dedicated to the protection of the turtle on the island of Boavista. In accordance with this agreement, Natura 2000 will carry out assessments and audits on behalf of RIU in relation to environmental protection, especially regarding measures which have already been taken and others planned for the future in the Lacaçao area, where RIU opened the Riu Touareg in May 2011, their third hotel in Boavista and fifth in Cape Verde (FTN News).

SAL

Two new papers about turtles have been included in the latest publication from the Zoological Society of Cabo Verde (SOS Tartarugas).

SANTIAGO

The sidewalks in Praia’s central Plateau district are getting a makeover. The re-qualification work in Praia’s historic district began last year and has already covered most of the Plateau’s busiest streets (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the new stadium at Vila das Pombas, Paul Municipality on Santo Antao, by architect Delio Leite.

ECONOMY

Cape Verde’s current account deficit decreased by around 59 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 reaching 1.509 billion Cape Verdean escudos, the Bank of Cape Verde said (Macauhub).

In order for companies to gain access to the money market, the chairman of the National Tourism Council, Gualberto do Rosário, has proposed the creation of a guarantee fund of at least 500 million Euros. Rosário spoke following a meeting with Cape Verdean President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, during which he called attention to a number of “problems” currently faced by the country’s economy and suggested several “interesting solutions,” such as privatizations in the area of transportation (A Semana).

The representative of the European Union (EU) in Cape Verde, Josep Coll, now called the attention of the Cape Verdean government and the investors themselves to the danger of concentration of investments in the tourism sector (Inforpress).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. For instance with Emanuel Spencer of SCI, Cape Verde’s first multinational!

AVIATION

After having cancelled all of its flights in October of 2011, private carrier Halcyonair Cabo Verde Airways resumed operations on February 13 (A Semana).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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TOURISM

Portuguese travel agency Solférias has sold out all of its vacation packages for the Carnaval season in Cape Verde. The company will bring more than 400 Portuguese tourists for the Mardi Gras festivities on the islands of Sal, Boa Vista and São Vicente on flights operated by TAP, TACV and a charter airline (A Semana).

Many people across Britain will now be looking ahead to their summer break and trying to work out where to holiday. Whilst settings such as the Canary Islands and Spain remain very attractive for travellers wanting to indulge in traditional hotspots, Cape Verde is proving to be a rising star, coming in seventh place for the most internet search locations (Just the Flight).

TRANSPORT

A staggering 98% of all traffic accidents in the city of Praia involve either taxis or Hiaces, the Toyota mini-vans used to transport passengers , according to João Vaz Antunes, the president of the Association of Taxi Owners of Praia, in whose view the numbers represent a “bad sign” for two professional categories that have expressed the intention of expanding their market by providing services to tourists (A Semana).

POLITICS

Two thirds of the US$66.2 million of the second aid package of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), funded by the United States is to be used in the water and sanitation sector, Cape Verde’s prime minister said (Macauhub).

The Cape Verdean government has taken on a loan of US$53 million from the World Bank to fund projects that will put an end to energy constraints on the archipelago (Macauhub).

Minister of Infrastructures and Marine Resources José Maria Veiga is going to lodge a criminal complaint against those who have “defamed” him in recent days, including Antero da Veiga Rocha, Maria Manuela Monteiro, legislator Fernando Elísio Freire and on-line newspaper Liberal (A Semana).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

José Teixeira, businessman and chief executive officer of real-estate company Editur, has just been arrested by Judiciary Police in connection with Operation Speed Boat, which is investigating a large-scale drug trafficking network operating from Cape Verde (A Semana).

DIASPORA

A rare lizard survived a 3,000-mile flight and a machine wash cycle after being unknowingly thrown in with the laundry by a British holidaymaker. Sue Banwell-Moore had returned from the Cape Verde Islands when she found the creature among her clean washing (BBC).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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SANTIAGO

The construction of the Figueira Gorda dam in Santa Cruz, on the island of Santiago, will begin Saturday, February 11. The groundbreaking ceremony will be presided over by Prime Minister José Maria Neves (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

A suspect in the burglary that took place over the weekend at the regional headquarters of construction and real-estate company Spencer Construções & Imobiliária (SCI) in Ribeira Grande, Santo Antão was caught by the National Police Criminal Investigation Brigade in the municipality (A Semana).

The solar power plant set up in Monte Trigo is ready to open and start operating and will be capable of supplying residents with electricity 24 hours a day. The power plant, which is part of the Sesam-ER project and was 75 percent funded by the European Commission, consists of a solar power plant in Monte Trigo with a 25 kw capacity and a min hydroelectric facility in Tarrafal de Monte Trigo, which makes use of a waterfall along a river to generate 45 kw of electricity (Macauhub).

SAO VICENTE

Leila Miranda, the São Vicente representative of drug distribution company Emprofac, has confirmed that the island has seen a rupture in the stock of a number of drugs used to treat respiratory infections over the past several days. The blame, according to Miranda, lies with the limitations at Mindelo sea port and with the dry haze that has covered Cape Verde for much of the week, and which has prevented many flights from landing at Cesária Évora International Airport on the island (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Hotel Calheta Bay resort for Sal Island (More).

ECONOMY

A World Bank study on the structure and organization of higher education in Cape Verde reveals that unemployment among individuals with university degrees could jeopardize the legitimacy of the government’s efforts to make higher education available to large portions of the population in the country (A Semana).

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the National Forum on Cape Verdean Higher Education in Praia, Prime Minister José Maria Neves affirmed that Cape Verde has the highest rate of access to university education in Africa. He also highlighted the importance of creating a fund to finance higher learning (A Semana).

Diesel, gasoline, kerosene and butane became more expensive as of February 8. Diesel, which was being sold for 125.60 escudos per liter, now costs 128.20 escudos. Gasoline rose from 169.30 to 175.10 per liter, and all sizes of butane gas canisters saw a price increase as well (A Semana).

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AVIATION

Agricultural engineer and former cabinet minister João Pereira Silva is the new Chief Executive Officer of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines. The decision was made last week in a Council of Ministers meeting and has been communicated to the company’s outgoing administration. João Pereira Silva, who is currently the administrator of fuel distribution company Enacol, will replace António Neves, whose contract came to an end nearly a year ago (A Semana).

MINING

Mining engineer José Mejias has discovered a rare mineral composed of potassium and aluminum, leucite, during excavations for the Faveta dam in São Lourenço dos Órgãos, on the island of Santiago. Leucite was previously thought not to exist in the archipelago (A Semana).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. Last on the line was Djopan, co-owner of Hotel Pedracin Village.

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

TOURISM

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is introducing a new programme of exotic fly-cruises to the Canary Islands, West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands aboard Braemar (PR).

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POLITICS

The governor of the Bank of Cape Verde, Carlos Burgo, will be summoned to parliament to testify on the health of the country’s economy and the credibility of its financial institutions. The initiative comes from opposition party MpD and is aimed at clarifying the evidence pointing to dangerous connections between some commercial banks, drug trafficking and money laundering (A Semana).

Fernando Moeda, a member of the PAICV National Council and the current executive administrator of commercial bank BCA, will be the party’s mayoral candidate in this year’s municipal elections in Praia (A Semana).

The female trio of PAICV mayoral candidates on the island of Santo Antão is complete. Leonesa Fortes, the current board of directors chair at the National Social Security Institute (INPS), has been chosen as the party’s candidate in the 2012 municipal elections in Ribeira Grande de Santo Antão (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde and the United States will sign the accord for the second Millennium Challenge Account financial compact on February 10. The signing will take place in Praia and will be attended by a delegation headed by the executive director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Daniel W. Yohannes (A Semana).

Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves met with U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) to discuss relations between Cape Verde and the United States, as well as the rich cultural contributions made by Cape Verdeans living in Rhode Island’s First Congressional District (Go Local).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verdean Armed Forces Chief of Staff Colonel Alberto Fernandes said at the end of the Falcão 12 military exercise that the country’s Armed Forces are prepared to combat any illicit acts that may come to occur in Cape Verde. São Nicolau is expected to be the stage for next year’s edition of the military exercise, which took place under the command of French troops (A Semana).

FOGO

São Filipe district court ordered Henrique Teixeira Nogueira (better known as Dickie), the main suspect in last week’s murder of businessman João da Rosa (better known as Djon Boca Pato), held in preventative custody pending trial (A Semana).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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SAL

A guard at the Sal municipal chamber auto repair garage was brutally murdered Sunday afternoon while on duty. Pedro da Cruz, better known as Ti Piras, was found dead with a belt around his neck and various cuts and bruises all over his body (A Semana).

ECONOMY

The Cape Verdean government should maintain a posture of austerity in order to preserve the fixed exchange rate between the escudo and the Euro and protect the economy against external shocks. These are the recommendations made by the deputy managing director and acting chair of the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, which has just concluded its second and final assessment of Cape Verde’s performance within the context of its Policy Support Instrument (A Semana).

Cape Verde,  the country with no recession and huge tourism growth! Check the charts.

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AGRI ETC.

Minister of Rural Development Eva Ortet is hoping to obtain support from Germany in order to expand the cultivation of jatropha in Cape Verde. Cooperation between the two countries in this domain is expected to begin in the coming days, with the planting of more than 37,000 jatropha plants on the island of Fogo (A Semana).

AVIATION

Passenger traffic at Cape Verde’s airports and aerodromes rose 11.2 percent year on year in 2011, from 1.6 million to 1.78 million, the country’s airport management company, Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Segurança (Asa) said in Praia (Macauhub).

Cape Verde is currently under a dense cloud cover, which has made flights to several of the country’s islands, particularly those whose airports feature limitations, such as São Nicolau, difficult. The high levels of dust in the air have further aggravated the situation. On Wednesday, February 1, for example, domestic flights to Boa Vista, Sal and São Vicente were cancelled (A Semana).

Despite the conflicting information being broadcast in the Cape Verdean media, the government has apparently maintained its decision to name Praia International Airport after Nelson Mandela, according to cabinet spokesman and Defense Minister Jorge Tolentino, who reacted to the apparently inaccurate news that the decision had been annulled (A Semana).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This week with Jose Pedro Oliveira, aka Djopan, of Hotel Pedracin Village.

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

REAL ESTATE

Cape Verde’s popularity with UK overseas property investors rocketed at the start of the year according to an internet portal. The multi-island nation jumped 18 places in the portal’s latest Top of the Props report, becoming the seventh most popular destination on the chart (OPP).

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UTILITIES

The government of Cape Verde is planning to add a further eight desalination plants to boost drinking water capacity and meet booming demand from increased tourism (Water World).

INTERNATIONAL

The International Criminal Court (ICC) held a ceremony on 19 January 2012 at the seat of the Court in The Hague to welcome Cape Verde as the 119th State Party to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. Cape Verde is also the 33rd African State Party, the first Lusophone country in Africa and the 12th member of the Economic Community of West African States to adhere to the Rome Statute, which took effect in the country on 1 January 2012 (ICC).

Cape Verde has risen to an amazing 9th place on the Reporters Without Frontiers Press Freedom Index 2011. Norway, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, Austria, Iceland, Luxembourg and Switzerland are leading the top 10, with Canada trailing Cape Verde at 10th place.

A Boston University’s fellowship has served a different but perhaps very important purpose: to highlight the small but growing group of countries in Africa that have already built successful democracies. It has served as a kind of think-tank and support system for well-run nations you almost never hear about: Cape Verde, Botswana, and Mauritius (Boston.com).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

A 17-year-old male was killed in the early morning hours of Saturday in the capital city during a confrontation between rival gangs from the Praia neighborhoods of Várzea and Achadinha. The boy was hit in the neck by a bullet fired from a homemade pistol (A Semana).

CULTURE

Most anyone who knows the music of Cape Verde, an archipelago nestled 500km off the coast of West Africa, first learned of these sublime sounds through the music of Cesária Évora. She popularised morna, the melancholy strains that are unmistakably the Cape-Verdean style of blues. Évora passed away last month, but the emotional essence of morna lives on through one of the country’s most celebrated sirens—27-year-old Mayra Andrade (The Economist).

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BOA VISTA

Current Boa Vista mayor José Pinto Almeida has beat José Luís Santos in the internal party dispute of which the two were protagonists, and is now the MpD’s candidate in this year’s municipal elections on the island (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of a new Aparthotel for Mindelo, Sao Vicente, boasting 120 apartments and a rooftop swimming pool (source).

ECONOMY

The World Bank plans to loan Cape Verde US$1 million for its Growth and Competitiveness Fund (FCC), which is focused on supporting Cape Verdean companies, said the FCC’s representative at the Sotavento Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCISS) (Macauhub).

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ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

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TOURISM

Thirty-five percent of the funding to build a cruise terminal and ancillary services in Sao Vicente has been approved, the National Administration of Ports of Cape Verde (Enapor) reported (AW).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands, updated in January 2012.

POLITICS

Prime Minister José Maria Neves affirmed he was unaware of any request for information regarding possible secret CIA flights used to transport terrorism suspects through Cape Verdean airspace (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

The United States will continue to support Cape Verde and the entire ECOWAS region in the fight against drug trafficking, organized crime, illegal migration and money laundering, affirmed Prime Minister José Maria Neves in a press conference following his meeting of nearly one hour with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton made a stopover on the island of Sal at the end of a visit to four West African countries (A Semana).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Secret police from the United States and various European countries believe there to be Cape Verdeans both inside the country and abroad who have converted to Islam and are recruiting individuals for military training in Yemen, one of Al Qaeda’s main bases. The suspicions have gained strength with the recent visit to Cape Verde of eleven members of the radical Islamic faction Tabligh Jamaat – considered the largest recruitment entity for the terrorist organization founded by Bin Laden – and took on alarming proportions with the declarations of French Minister of Foreign Affairs Alain Juppé, who confirmed Al Qaeda’s expansion from Somalia to coastal West Africa, crossing the entire Sahel region (A Semana).

The Cape Verde Coast Guard has commissioned a new 51 metre long Stan Patrol SPA 5009 patrol vessel built by the Damen shipyard. The vessel, based on Damen’s Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009, was commissioned on January 7. It features a single ‘Axe Bow’ which delivers high speeds with low fuel consumption. More than 60 Damen Sea Axe vessels have already been delivered as Crew Boats and Fast Crew Suppliers but the Cape Verde craft is the first Offshore Patrol Vessel version (Defenceweb).

SANTIAGO

The global price of the Santa Catarina de Santiago sanitation project, which is being financed by the French Development Agency and the Cape Verdean government, stands at 10 million Euros, and includes work on the water distribution and sewer system in the municipality (A Semana).

Cape Verde has decided to rename its Praia International Airport after South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela, an icon for freedom in Africa. The decision pays homage to Mandela, who on February 11 marks 22 years since he was released from prison, where he had spent 27 years for his struggle against the white apartheid regime in South Africa (AFP).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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SANTO ANTAO

President Jorge Carlos Fonseca Jorge Carlos Fonseca, on his first official visit to the island of Santo Antão, presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Missolini Complex in the city of Ribeira Grande (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Cape Verde records 4.5% inflation in Dec. 2011 – Inflation in Cape Verde in December 2011 stood at 4.5%, double the rate at the same time in 2010, according to the country’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) (Afrique en Ligne).

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AGRI ETC

Wines from wineries Sodade and Chã, both produced on the island of Fogo, will be included, for the first time, in the 21st edition of the annual Boston wine exposition, which runs until Sunday, January 22 (A Semana).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s new feature: Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This week with Emanuel Spencer of SCI, Cape Verde’s first multinational!

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

TOURISM

British tourism group The Resort Group PLC plans to build six tourist resorts on Cape Verde’s Boa Vista island over the next 12 to 15 years, increasing the number of rooms the groups has on the island to 4,300 (Macauhub).

Breathtaking beaches lure tourists to the Cape Verde islands.  Even in the main winter season there is little sign of hectic activity on Sal and neighbouring Boa Vista – even though these two are the most popular islands in the entire archipelago, which lies off the coast of West Africa (Monsters and Critics).

The Ribeira Grande de Santo Antão municipal chamber will promote an international forum on the sustained development of tourism in the municipality and on the island of Santo Antão in general. The event, which is taking place at the Pedracin Village Hotel, will be opened by Minister of Rural Development Eva Ortet (A Semana).

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POLITICS

The execution of the Sector Plan for Renewable Energies, with a target of 50 percent “penetration” of renewable energies in Cape Verde by 2020, is expected to cost over 300 million euros, Minister Humberto Brito said (Macauhub).

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INTERNATIONAL

New York City will be the stage Saturday, January 14, for the second edition of the Cape Verde Expo of New York, which will feature music, fashion, cinema and visual arts from the archipelago. The musical portion of the event will be guaranteed by cabojazz singer Cândida Rose, singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Zé Rui de Pina (both of whom reside in the United States), and special guest artist Isa Pereira, who will travel all the way from Cape Verde to participate (A Semana).

CULTURE

The nominees for the 23 categories of the Cape Verde Music Awards are already known. Dina Medina – with six nominations – and Tcheka and Mirri Lobo – with five each – are the artists with more nominations for the event that takes place on the 12th of March, in the city of Praia,  Santiago Island (CVMA).

Cooperation between Spain and Cape Verde will continue, with the next Indicative Cooperation Programme (PIC) to be studied, assured José Luis Rocha, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Inforpress).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Four former National Police Anti-Crime Brigade agents have been transferred to the Achada de São Filipe and Achada de Santo António National Police squadrons in Praia. The corporation’s Praia Regional Command recruited 16 new faces from the National Police Corps of Intervention and the various squadrons in the capital city in order to boost the work and image of the Anti-Crime and Criminal Investigation Brigade in the capital, an image that was severely tarnished by “internal crimes” (A Semana).

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FOGO

With its smoking core, Fogo is the most obvious embodiment of Cape Verde’s own roots deep below the earth’s crust. The island’s active volcano, Pico de Fogo, sits inside the blown out crater of an older, much larger cone, offering views from its summit on a clear day of the country’s largest island of Santiago. In the opposite direction, across a short stretch of tumultuous sea, the archipelago’s smallest island of Brava is seemingly within reach from the cobblestone street in front of the Cape Cod International Restaurante, located in Fogo’s main city of São Filipe (Cape Cod Online).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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

SANTIAGO

After Mato Grosso state capital Cuiabá and Ceará state capital Fortaleza, the city of Praia is preparing to sign a sister-city accord with a third Brazilian state capital: Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia. The areas of cooperation that have thus far been identified include culture, the business sector, security, education, professional training and information technology. The final accord is expected to be ready by the end of this year (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Sinagoga resort for Sinagoga on Santo Antao, consisting of 44 homes and a four star hotel. Construction starts this month (source).

AGRI ETC

The Cape Verdean government plans this year to set up on the archipelago a pilot unit for seaweed production to extract beta-carotene, a substance used, for example, as a food colouring, the secretary of state for Marine Resources said in Praia (Macauhub).

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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. We started off with Josephine Sturiale, Paulino Dias, Patone Lobo and others. Coming soon is an interview with Emanuel Spencer of SCI.

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

FISHERIES

A partnership between companies from the Brazilian state from Ceará and from Cape Verde has been set up with the aim of farming shrimp on the archipelago, according to Brazilian newspaper Diário do Nordeste. The newspaper said that the outlined investment totalled 1.5 million euros, half of which was a donation from the Netherlands government and the other half provided by the companies that make up the partnership, called Pescados de Cabo Verde, one of which is Ceará-based company Universo Pescados (Macauhub).

PORTS

Brazilian shipping and docks company Companhia Docas do Ceará (CDC) and Cape Verdean ports manager Empresa Nacional de Administração dos Portos (Enapor) signed a protocol of cooperation to increase business between Brazil and Africa, using the West African archipelago’s ports (Macauhub).

The ship Vicente, owned by shipping company Tuninha, began its first reconnaissance trip to the ports in which it will operate today. Vicente will carry out weekly trips and facilitate the transportation of products between all islands except for Maio, Brava and Santo Antão (A Semana).

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SPLIT SECOND POLLS

POLITICS

The remarkable economic and political progress of Cape Verde is seen as a blueprint for the rest of Africa, writes BBC Today programme presenter Evan Davis after a visit to the tiny island state.

Cape Verde stands at 26th place on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2011 Democracy Index, beating France and a number of other EU majors (Wikipedia).

CULTURE

Cesária Évora died on December 17th, aged 70. Read the excellent obituary in The Economist.

The recent death of Grammy award-winning singer Cesaria Evora — synonymous around the world with the Cape Verde Islands — is still being felt by Cape Verdean Americans and ex-pats, two weeks after her passing. The 70-year-old singer was honored on area radio, in restaurants, by local diplomatic offices and in churches, including in New Bedford, considered the oldest and one of the largest Cape Verdean immigrant communities in the country (SouthcoastToday).

The music video “Amor não é complicado,” by young Brazilian singer Kataleya, which has become a hit on the Internet and on television, is the work of Cape Verdean production company Klasszik (A Semana).

He grew up in Roxbury and Dorchester, the son of Cape Verdean immigrants. Now 26-year-old rap superstar Nilton Depina, who goes by the name 2Face Dejavu, has claimed the top rapper prize at last weeks “America’s Next Top Rapper” competition (Boston.com).

INTERNATIONAL

Vanny Reis became Miss West Africa 2011 (more pics at ModernGhana).

China has loaned Cape Verde over US$80 million under the terms of four agreements. Signed by the secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, José Luís Rocha, and by the Chinese ambassador to Cape Verde, two of the agreements will provide loans for construction of social housing, one for US$51 million and the other for US$12 million. The remaining two agreements related to expanding the National Stadium by a further 5,000 seats to a total of 15,000 as well as the project to extend and refurbish the Presidential Palace (Macauhub).

Cape Verde is due in February to sign for the second aid package from the United States Federal Government via the US institution Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the United States ambassador said in Cape Verde (Macauhub).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

The patrol ship Guardião arrived at Mindelo sea port on the island of São Vicente on December 30th. The ship, which was built in the Netherlands, will reinforce the patrolling of Cape Verde’s Exclusive Economic Zone and carry out search and rescue, inspection, anti-trafficking and anti-illegal fishing operations, among others (A Semana).

The Guardião will be baptized on Saturday January 7th in Mindelo.

The Council of Ministers on Tuesday will discuss the current situation of public security to ensure a zero tolerance policy on crime (AW).

The new Chief of the Armed Forces (CEMFA), Colonel Alberto Carlos Barbosa Fernandes, took office in a ceremony presided by the President, who praised the role of the Armed Forces in Cape Verde (Inforpress).

The Judicial Police (PJ) arrested a further five people in connection with Operation Speedboat, among them the former chairman of the board of the Stock Exchange, Veríssimo Pinto (AW).

SANTIAGO

Australian based Water Resource’s 49 per cent owned joint venture, Blue Acquified LDA, has agreed a 25 year contract to provide 1,400,000 cubic metres of water a year to the municipality of Santa Catarina (Money MSN).

SANTO ANTAO

The chairman of the PAICV’s Santo Antão Regional Political Commission, Carlos Delgado, has confirmed the incumbent mayor Vera Almeida will be the party’s candidate in the 2012 municipal elections in Paúl. Almeida promises to comment on the issue later this week (A Semana).

Electricity utility Electra is cutting off electricity to various public and private institutions with bills in arrear in the municipality of Porto Novo, on the island of Santo Antão. Cement company Cabocem and the Santantão Art Resort Hotel, both of which belong to Turinvest Holding, as well as the Porto Novo municipal chamber and the agricultural goods processing center, are among the first to have their energy supply suspended (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

The workers at São Vicente retail establishment Casa do Leão entered 2012 unemployed and without hopes of receiving the eight months of wages they are owed any time soon. One of Mindelo’s historic commercial establishments, Casa do Leão declared bankruptcy some six months ago and closed its doors on December 30. Its workers are now fighting to have the back wages they are owed included in the compensation payment to which they have a right (A Semana).

The Council of Ministers approved the draft resolution to change the name of  São Pedro Airport on Sao Vicente in to Cesaria Evora Airport (AW).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Vista Ponta do Sol residential complex for Ponta do Sol on Santo Antao island, currently under development (SCI).

ECONOMY

The Bank of Cape Verde decided to increase the minimum cash availability rates by two percentage points from 16 percent to 18 percent and the base interest rate by 150 basis points from 4.25 percent to 5.75 percent. The Cape Verdean central bank explained the measures, which are intended to ensure the stability of the exchange rate and of the financial system, by noting the unfavourable progress of the balance of payments, persistence of serious financial problems on an international level, particularly in the Euro Zone, and the development of the economic situation in Cape Verde itself (Macauhub).

Germe (Better Manage Your Business), a project of the International Labour Organization that seeks to improve the performance of micro and small companies by providing them with information about management was launched in Cape Verde (Macauhub).

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BUSINESS

Angolan drinks company Empresa Nacional de Bebidas (Refriango) has said that it will end 2011 with production of 2 million litres of drinks and sales rising 20 percent against 2010. Cape Verde and South Africa would be the next potential export markets in 2012 where it planned to sell 2 million litres of drinks (Macauhub).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign.

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

FISHERIES

The government plans to invest 51 million escudos in the requalification of the Praia fishing dock, work on which will begin in February. The investment will be the most significant in the infrastructure since it was opened (A Semana).

PORTS

Cape Verde is not taking maximum advantage of the scanners recently installed to reinforce security in container traffic in the ports of Praia, Mindelo and Palmeira, according to the director general of customs, Marino Andrade, in whose view not even 10% of the equipment’s potential is being utilized (A Semana).

TOURISM

Meliá Hotels International recently announced the construction of its fourth hotel in Cape Verde and its first on the island of Boa Vista, which will join the three units the group already owns on Sal. The Meliá White Sands will be a luxury resort with 850 apartments (A Semana).

Praia’s airport, port and streets had a different flavor, in large part due to the presence of 572 Finnish tourists in the city. 308 of the tourists disembarked from a Kristina Cruises ship docked at Praia sea port and boarded an Airbus 330 back home. The same plane brought 264 Finnish tourists, who embarked on the same day for Mindelo. This was the first time Cape Verde has hosted an operation of its kind with such a large number of tourists – a sort of test for future incursions (A Semana).

Portuguese travel agency Solférias chartered a total of 101 flights to the islands of Boa Vista and Sal during the course of 2011. Of this total, 56 flights departed from Lisbon and Porto completely full. A total of 27,641 passengers flew to Cape Verde through the travel agency (A Semana).

Destinations such as the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Western Africa, are thought to be a hot spot for this year for Scotsmen as tourists shy away from the traditionally popular sun seeking destinations of Egypt and Tunisia due to political unrest in the countries over the past year (Scotsman).

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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