POLITICS

Ukraine doesn’t appear to regret the departure of former EU Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, who has been blacklisted by the country’s Foreign Ministry for making statements falling “beyond the scope of his diplomatic functions”. Teixeira, of Portugal, publicly criticised Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich for failing to deliver on his pledge to improve the business climate and tackle corruption. Teixeira has now been appointed to head the EU delegation in Cape Verde, a former colony of Portugal (Euractiv).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verde needs to revise its legislation on confidentiality and the preservation of personal data, affirmed Carlos Reis, the national director of the Judiciary Police during the international conference on terrorism currently taking place on the island of Sal. In Reis’ opinion, the lack of access to information places limitations on investigations aimed at preventing organized crime (A Semana).

Judiciary Police have closed the case of the ship Santo Antão after thoroughly searching the vessel’s cargo hold without finding any trace of drugs on board. The ship had been boarded by Judiciary Police inspectors, who accompanied it between the islands of Santiago and Fogo to oversee the unloading of its contents in the latter’s Vale dos Cavaleiros sea port. The expectation that there may have been cocaine hidden among the cargo, however, was dashed (A Semana).

DIASPORA

The expression ‘football family’ is part of everyday vernacular these days. However, when Guy Ramos utters the phrase in relation to the Cape Verde Islands squad of which he is a valued member, the sincerity in his voice leaves no doubt he also means it in a literal sense. This excellent team spirit appears to be the key factor in the progress made by the island nation, which has never been in a better position to secure a berth at a major international competition (AllAfrica).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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

SAL

The representatives of the PAICV in the Sal municipal assembly have called a press conference to protest against the increase in property taxes in the municipality. The representatives, in the voice of José António Moreno, consider the increase of more than 80% “abusive and arbitrary” (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Drivers on Santo Antão have begun to predict that the island’s three municipalities may be cut off from one another of a wall that fell during last year’s rains in Lombo Cruz, on the mountain road leading from Porto Novo to Ribeira Grande, is not rebuilt before the beginning of this year’s rainy season. The company hired to repair the road has affirmed that work on the fallen sections will begin in two weeks (A Semana).

ECONOMY

A Semana reports that taxi prices in Sao Vicente were raised by 10% for the next 12 months (AW).

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AGRI ETC.

Portuguese non-governmental organization Monte will assist farmers from the island of Santo Antão transport and put their products on the rest of the Cape Verdean market through a project financed by the European Union to the tune of 185,000 Euros (A Semana).

AVIATION

Praia International Airport will be baptized Nelson Mandela International Airport on Friday May25th (AW)

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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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.  So far with Paulino Dias, Josephine Sturiale, Patone Lobo, Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling, Emanuel Spencer, Djopan Oliveira, Alexandre Abade and Jacquie Cozens…

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REAL ESTATE

Belgium’s Talboom group should this July begin building the access road to the luxury real-estate/tourism complex it plans to build at Jon d’Ebra Bay. Once the road is finished, the group aims to begin construction, probably in December, of the first of the 30 luxury residences to be built on the bay’s coast. In the second phase the group plans to build 200 more residences and a hotel (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Net ODA disbursements for Cape Verde went up from $195.6 million in 2009 to $336.76 million in 2010, according to OECD , which a UN representative attributes partly to the country’s reputation for aid effectiveness and good governance (Gantdaily).

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POLITICS

The delegation from Cape Verde to the Rio+20 conference next month in Rio de Janeiro will be headed by the President, Mr Jorge Carlos Fonseca.

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Supreme Court of Justice has upheld a lower court decision to keep former Cape Verde Stock Exchange president Veríssimo Pinto, arrested by Judiciary Police as a part of Operation Speed Boat, held in preventative custody pending trial on money laundering and drug trafficking charges, among others (A Semana).

Cape Verde’s Customs Department, which was operating without its customs dispatch system due to a software problem, is once again functioning normally, according to the director general of customs, Marino Vieira (A Semana).

CULTURE

German-born saxophonist and flautist Swami Swagato, who chose the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde as his home, was found dead in his home in the Alto de Miramar neighborhood of Mindelo. Judiciary Police have already made their way to the locale, but have not announced the cause of the musician’s death (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.

SAO NICOLAU

A website based on Sao Nicolau reports that modernization works at Preguica Airport will start in June 2012.

SAO VICENTE

Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo will resume non-emergency surgeries. The surgeries had been suspended since April 30 due to lack of anesthesia and stitches (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of part of the Calheta Bay development, to be built at Murdeira on Sal Island (source).

ECONOMY

The Bank of Cape Verde’s semester report on Monetary Policy reveals that the Cape Verdean economy has shown a slight “slowdown” in its growth rate, and predicts that the economy will continue to grow, but at a slower rate, over the next six months as well (A Semana).

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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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 Jacquie Conzes of SOS Tartarugas, a real warrior for Cape Verde’s wildlife!

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LOGISTICS

A mission of businesspeople and representatives of Brazilian institutions is due begin a visit to Cape Verde, which will include talks on launching a sea route between Fortaleza in the Brazilian state of Ceará, and Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The possibility of this project becoming a reality is great according to the chairman of Ceará Trade Brasil and the Angola-Brazil Chamber of Commerce in Ceará, Roberto Marinho, who said that despite the logistics being complicated, the project could be a success (Macauhub).

TOURISM

According to the 2012 Doing Business Report published by the World Bank Group, Cape Verde has made an enormous contribution to the positive image of West Africa over recent years. This is largely due to strong growth in the Islands’ tourism sector. In 2011 in excess of 475,000 tourists visited Cape Verde, only about 100,000 shy of its native population, and by 2015 one million arrivals are envisaged (Easier.com).

Work on the Hotel Hilton Sal is due to begin soon, the chairman of Cabo Verde Investimentos, José Duarte, said. The luxury hotel, which will be located between Hotel Crioula and Djad’ Sal in Santa Maria, will be the first Hilton Group hotel in Cape Verde and Cabo Verde Investimentos is negotiating a second unit for the country’s capital (Macauhub).

POLITICS

“I know where I come from, my roots and my parents’ history,” says Carlos Gonçalves. When he was a toddler, his family left Cape Verde for Rotterdam. Forty years later, Gonçalves chairs the local government of Delfshaven, one of 14 districts comprising the Dutch port city (RNW).

The Guine-Bissau house where Amilcar Cabral lived from his birth, in 1924, to 1932 underwent a $15,000 renovation last year, financed by Unesco. The historical building is now being turned into a museum (Black Star News).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

The residence of prosecutor Vital Moeda, in the Madeiralzinho neighborhood of Mindelo, was broken into in the early morning hours of Sunday. The magistrate was reportedly sprayed with a chemical agent that caused him to fall asleep while the burglars made off with his computer equipment (A Semana).

The Portuguese government has ordered the military force deployed some three weeks ago to the region of Guinea Bissau to return to Portugal, according to a source from the country’s Ministry of Defense. This component of Portugal’s Immediate Reaction Force was made up essentially of four war ships and a P-3 Orion aircraft stationed in Cape Verde (A Semana).

CULTURE

In the fifth of a series showcasing Africa’s musical talent, Cape Verdean singer Carmen Souza performs her song Ind’feso – which means ‘helpless’ in Creole (BBC).

DIASPORA

Mike Costa’s new film, “Proud to be Cape Verdean: A Look at Cape Verdeans in the Golden State is a documentary that will capture the essence of the Cape Verdean culture in California through an insightful look at individuals and organizations and their desire to maintain their cultural identity (PR).

BOA VISTA

Follow the findings of the 4th IWDG Cape Verde Humpback Whale Expedition and find more spectacular pictures of whales around Cape Verde.

SANTO ANTAO

Just recently, the Cape Verde village of Monte Trigo experienced its first 24 hours of electricity. The 60-family community is only reachable by boat and is completely dependent on fishing and its trade with nearby villages. The need for ice to preserve fish is vital, and villagers must travel five-hour by boat to purchase it (SolarNovus).

SAO VICENTE

The molecular biology laboratory at the Mindelo campus of the University of Cape Verde can now carry out DNA extraction and gene cloning. The laboratory, the first of its kind in the country, is the result of investments of some 66 million escudos (A Semana).

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AVIATION

The new Boeing 737 purchased by the government to reinforce TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ fleet of aircrafts is expected to be delivered to Cape Verde in a matter of days. The aircraft is currently in North Carolina, in the United States of America, where it has undergone a major technical and aesthetic makeover prior to heading to Praia (A Semana).

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INTERNET

Almost 90.000 people in Cape Verde are now using Facebook, up 9.000 or over 11% from last year. Facebook penetration in Cape Verde is now at 17,42% (SocalBakers).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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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 time with Jacquie Cozens of SOS Tartarugas, a warrior for Cape Verde’s environment…!

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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.

POLITICS

Prime Minister José Maria Neves will represent Cape Verde at the summit of the Contact Group for Guinea Bissau, which takes place today, May 3, in Senegalese capital Dakar. Guinea Bissau’s interim president and prime minister, who were overthrown in a coup d’état on April 12, will also attend the meeting, which will be used to outline the next steps to be taken to restore peace and stability to Cape Verde’s sister country, now that ECOWAS has received the green light from the United Nations, by way of the African Union, to send a “pacification” force to the country (A Semana).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

Some of the cocaine that passes through Cape Verde on its way to Europe is being used to finance terrorist activities, according to a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the United States of America. The document, which was released last week, places greater emphasis, however, on Guinea Bissau, considered the first narco-state in West Africa (A Semana).

A Dutch citizen was arrested in the early morning hours of Friday, April 27, at Praia International Airport in possession of 200 grams of cocaine, which was hidden in her luggage. The 46-year-old woman was arrested as she disembarked from a flight arriving from the Brazilian city of Fortaleza. She was scheduled to continue her journey to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands (A Semana).

DIASPORA

The Making of the Cape Verdean book will be presented to the Cape Verdean National Library in Praia on May 8, 2012 by Jeanne M. Costa. “The Making of the Cape Verdean” is a book written by the late Manuel E. “Manny” Costa Sr. and was written during the late 60’s to the early 1970’s. The manuscript captures a time and place when Cape Verdeans lived in the New Bedford MA area from the early 1900’s to the early 1970’s. The book was edited and published by his daughter, Jeanne M. Costa in 2011. The Making of the Cape Verdean is an impassioned examination of Cape Verdean life in early to mid 20th century New Bedford by a highly respected gentleman/scholar of the community who lived it. This book provides an intimate glimpse into the unvarnished social fabric of Cape Verdean culture. It reads like an evocative memoir and will undoubtedly conjure up a host of memories from the period. Manuel E. Costa Sr. also at times has the reader confront some very complex psychosocial/ethical issues and this incisive treatment will provide grist for anthropological/sociological research for generations to come. The book is a historical document that will provide Cape Verdeans in Cape Verde with an insight to the journey and the life experience of their Cape Verdean ancestors who migrated and lived in Massachusetts and the Diaspora in the 1900’s.

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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

FOGO

Over the course of more than a week the municipality of São Filipe celebrated its municipal day and patron saint day, Nhô São Filipe, one of Cape Verde’s main cultural manifestations. The festivities ended yesterday to the sounds of Sal-based singer Mirri Lobo. Organizers called this year’s festivities the best ever (A Semana).

SAL

The Pedra de Lume salt marshes on the island of Sal are now officially a natural, historic and cultural heritage site. The decree classifying the site as such as published in the April 24 edition of the Official State Bulletin (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Sal is due from 17 to 19 June to host the Meeting of Businesspeople for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, as part of Forum Macau, Cape Verdean newspaper A Semana reported. According to the paper, the economic event, which is expected to be attended by 500 delegates, will take place in a hotel in Sal, and is intended to promote trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries that are part of Forum Macau (Macauhub).

Sal will, from 16 to 20 June,  also host the fourth edition of Cape Verde’s Expotur Fair, which will be entitled, “One Destination, A Variety of Cultures,” Cape Verdean news agency Inforpress reported. According to the agency the reason given for choosing Sal island by Cape Verde’s Tourism Minister, Humberto Brito, was that the islands is the “epicentre of tourism development,” in Cape Verde and that it will also be able to promote other tourist destinations on the archipelago (Macauhub).

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BANKING

Defunct Portuguese bank Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) attempted to create a version of its Cape Verdean offshore bank Banco Insular in São Tomé and Príncipe in order to keep its operations off its official balance sheet. The project was aborted, but even so some 5 million Euros were spent by Cape Verde-registered Banco Insular to obtain the necessary licensing (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

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 Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling of Blu bar, Santa Maria…!

POLITICS

The prime minister of Cape Verde urged the international community to keep up the pressure on the junta in Guinea Bissau to cede power it had seized in an April 12 coup (Wall Street Journal).

The Cape Verdean parliament approved by a majority vote the proposed law for the new Investment Code, which sets out the basis for attracting and facilitating investments in the country (Macauhub).

The government denied that Cape Verde’s financial system is exposed to money laundering, affirming that the cases detected do not involve commercial banks and are being dealt with by the courts (A Semana).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

US military personnel have been in Cape Verde since March 28 as a part of the AMLEP operation, led by Cape Verde, in which ships passing through Cape Verde’s Exclusive Economic Zone are approached in order to promote maritime security and to combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing (A Semana).

AMLEP is the operational phase of Africa Partnership Station (APS), a program that aims to strengthen maritime partnerships to improve safety and security in Africa (Jacksonville).

Ten ships from 12 host nations kicked-off Saharan Express 2012, a multinational exercise in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS), at the pre-sail conference in Dakar April 23.  The countries met to coordinate maritime operations prior to the exercise, which focuses on combating illicit activities -such as illegal fishing, trafficking and piracy – that are endangering the maritime security in many of the participant nations (Defpro).

INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde is preparing an action plan for a possible evacuation of its citizens residing in Guinea Bissau. The plan is being elaborated by a crisis group, which estimates the number of Cape Verdeans living in Guinea Bissau at approximately two thousand (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.

SAO VICENTE

The Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Management, the São Vicente municipal chamber and the United Nations Program in Cape Verde discussed the “Urban Profile of Mindelo”. The purpose was to carry out a quick assessment of the city’s needs and gaps in order to develop policies aimed at reducing urban poverty (A Semana).

AGRI ETC.

The company Fogo Coffee Spirit has so far purchased between 22 and 23 metric tons of coffee produced in Mosteiros, on the island of Fogo – the equivalent of 40% of the year’s entire production. The target, according to Licínio Andrade, president of the Mosteiros Association of Coffee Producers (Procafé), is 25 metric tons (A Semana).

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

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 Alexandre Abade of Oasis Atlantico Hotels….

REAL ESTATE

Canadian company Bitumen Capital plans to buy 100 percent of two tourist resorts in Cape Verde – Fortim Mindelo and Monte Gordo – from Cape Verde Development, owned by Irishman Tom Sheehy (Macauhub).

TELECOMS

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde wants to make the new concession contract between the state and CV Telecom “more competitive”, in order to “further expand the services that exist” in the country. The subject was discussed between PM Jose Maria Neves and Zeinal Bava, the CEO of Portugal Telecom, which owns 40 percent of CV Telecom. CV Telecom and the state of Cape Verde are in the process of renegotiating the concession contract (Telecompaper).

POLITICS

The number of new voters who have registered to participate in this year’s July 1st municipal elections has already surpassed 13,000, according to Arlinda Chantre, of the Directorate General of Support for the Election Process (DGAPE). Only those who have registered to vote by April 27 will be able to participate in the election (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Brazil’s new ambassador to Cape Verde announced that his country’s president will visit the archipelago before the end of the year. The announcement was made during the ceremony in which the new Brazilian and French diplomats in Praia presented their letters of credential to President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, who called on the two ambassadors to continue cooperation with Cape Verde, particularly in the realm of the fight against piracy, organized crime and drug and human trafficking (A Semana).

Cape Verdean immigrants in the United States will now pay a lower United States visa processing fee. According to the readjustments made by the US Department of State the cost of an immigrant visa is now 19,500 escudos – considerably below the previous 28,050-escudo fee. Non-immigrant visa processing fees, on the other hand, went from 11,900 to 13,060 escudos (A Semana).

Cape Verde is contributing toward the reinforcement of West Africa’s positive image with regards to the increase in tourist traffic, with the dynamics of the sector showing strong growth in recent times. In 2011, for example, more than 400,000 tourists visited the islands (A Semana).

Cape Verde and China have agreed to carry out research projects in the areas of renewable energy, information technology, health, and the sea, opening up a “new door” in two-way cooperation, Cape Verde’s Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister said in Beijing (Macauhub).

NATURE

Researchers with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) have arrived in Cape Verde to continue their studies on the North Atlantic humpback whale (Afloat).

An international group of scientists have researched an age-old problem of genetic diversity on islands: E. Gomez-Dıaz, J. Morris-Pocock, J. Gonzalez-Solıs and K. D. McCoy write in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. The brown booby, Sula leucogaster, and the Cape Verde shearwater, Calonectris edwardsii, along with two other birds, were used to detect how island genetic divergence is affected by animals that have ready access to “travel” (Earth Times).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

The Portuguese Immediate Reaction Force that departed from Lisbon last weekend for Guinea Bissau will remain stationed on Sal Island. The objective of the mission is to remain on standby relatively close to Guinea Bissau in order to be able to evacuate Portuguese citizens, as well as citizens of other nationalities, from the country in case of an emergency (A Semana).

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray E. Mabus visited Praia recently. Mabus was to conduct office calls with the local government to reinforce the United States’ commitment to supporting and training the host nation to defend the freedom of trade within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that encompasses the waters around Cape Verde (Jacksonville.com).

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 recently.

SANTIAGO

The unregulated use of vehicles equipped with loudspeakers that circulate through the streets of Praia blaring both commercial and institutional advertisements has led the Praia municipal chamber to pass deliberation prohibiting the practice in the capital city (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the five star Oasis Atlantico Salinas Sea hotel, currently under construction in Santa Maria, on Sal Island.

ECONOMY

Creating the first American school in Cape Verde is among the proposals being brought by a group of US entrepreneurs. The businesspeople also intend to invest in the finance and construction sectors (A Semana).

Almost all of the U.S. development money spent by Cape Verde has gone to contracts with European companies, not American ones. The Metro South Chamber of Commerce, at the prompting of the Cape Verdean consulate in Boston, wants to change that. The delegation includes James Blake, president of Harbor One Credit Union; Brockton Councilor-at-Large Jass Stewart; Sheila Sullivan-Jardim, executive director of the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board; and Peter Vlaco of Brophy & Phillips, and Ken DeDominici of Churchill Linens (Entreprise News).

The price of electricity supplied by water and electricity utility Electra and by Águas e Energia de Boa Vista will go up. The new prices, which are an average of 1.5 escudos higher per KWh, have been set by the Economic Regulation Agency (ARE) (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 a strong believer in Cape Verde’s tourism sector: Alexandre Abade of Oasis Atlantico Hotels.

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AGRI ETC.

More than 40% of work on the Faveta dam on Santiago Island has been concluded. The Faveta dam will have a total storage capacity of 670,000 cubic meters of water. The underground water it will help accumulate, however, will total some 1,200,000 cubic meters, and will be used to irrigate more than 908 hectares of farmland (A Semana).

The government is investing 75,716,569 escudos to dig 12 wells for the extraction of underground water on the island of Brava. The ultimate objective is to mobilize more water to modernize and expand agriculture on Cape Verde’s smallest inhabited island (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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TOURISM

Hiacemar is the latest sea-going vessel intended to transport tourists between the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão and São Nicolau. The vessel was blessed by Mindelo Bishop Ildo Fortes in Mindelo sea port in a ceremony attended by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Energy Humberto Brito (A Semana).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Santa Barbara II residential project for Ribeira Grande on Santo Antao Island.

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CULTURE

After launching the first edition in 2009 and the success of 2010 and 2011 editions, Kriol Jazz Festival – Praia will make the streets of the Cape Verdean capital resonate again from April 12th to the 14th 2012. Meet a panel of creole artists for a human and musical exchange around this 4th edition’s schedule. After giving tribute to Horace Silver and Code di Dona, it is Cesaria Evora who will be honoured this time (Kriol Jazz Festival Praia).

Morna is the national music of the Cape Verde islands, off west Africa. The Guardian finds it in the bars and cafes of Mindelo, capital of São Vicente.

Lusafrica announced the release of No Amá, the fourth album from Cape-Verdean artist Nancy Vieira. No Amá opens with Maylen, a very charming song written by Mario Lucio – poet, musician, historian of African Creole culture and current minister of culture in the government led by José Maria Pereira Neves (World Music Central).

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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 recently.

ECONOMY

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Cape Verde’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B+’ and Long-term local currency IDR at ‘BB-’. The Outlook on the Long-term IDRs is Stable. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Cape Verde’s Country Ceiling at ‘BB-’ and Short-term foreign currency rating at ‘B’ (Reuters).

Fuel prices were readjusted, with the price of all petroleum products up. Gasoline broke all previous price increase records, leaping from 175.10 to 192.80 escudos per liter. Diesel, for its part, went from 128.20 to 134.30 escudos per liter (A Semana).

BANKING

Bank of Cape Verde governor Carlos Burgo spoke in parliament, guaranteeing that the country’s financial system is solid and credible and that the recent arrest of former Cape Verde Stock Exchange president Veríssimo Pinto as a result of the Operation Speed Boat drug trafficking investigation did not affect the institution’s credibility (A Semana).

Banco Caboverdiano de Negócios (BCN) has a solvency ratio of 11,5% and is therefore in good health, acoording to a BCN spokesperson in reaction to the news that Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde (BVC, the Capeverdean Stock Exchange) has suspended the BCN’s trading registration (AW).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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OPINION

All investors who are interested in the Cape Verde market, should be take good note of recent developments when the Cabo Verde Fast Ferry, which operated with stable prices for one year, announced a minor price adjustment in the face of a 20% increase in the price of fuel. The media screamed bloody murder and appeared to have fabricated the extent of the price change. The residents of Brava followed suit and accused the company, which had provided high-quality, modern service, of gouging (InvestinCV).

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 Djopan Oliveira of Pedracin Village…!

REAL ESTATE

Two managers of the real estate company Arck LLP were detained by British police for international fraud for selling appartments of Paradise Beach Resort on Sal Island (FT Advisor).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

POLITICS

President Jorge Carlos Fonseca visited Dakar, Senegal, as that country’s new president was sworn in. Mr Fonseca also met the large local Capeverdean community in the presence of the Ambassador to Senegal, Francisco Veiga (Facebook).

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INTERNATIONAL

The program “Reinforcement of Energy Production, Transportation and Distribution Capacity on six Cape Verdean islands,” co-financed by the Cape Verdean government and by the African Development Bank, received financial reinforcement of 6 billion escudos from Japan, which signed a loan agreement with Cape Verde’s Ministry of Foreign Relations (A Semana).

DIASPORA

Well known Rotterdam hairdresser Carlos Ramos was nominated out of thousands of competing colleagues for the Dutch Coiffure Awards 2012. The Awards ceremony will take place on May13th (Coiffure Awards, in Dutch). Being nominated is already a great victory, a happy Carlos told Atlantico Weekly.

A 29-year-old man is facing a murder charge in connection with a Brockton man gunned down on a porch in 2011. Herico Andrade was arraigned on one count of the murder of Jose Lobo,23, in Brockton District Court (Entreprise News).

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 recently.

SPLIT SECOND POLLS

BOAVISTA

The National Civil Protection Service (SNPC) tested the response capacity of the Municipal Civil Protection Services of the three municipalities on the island of Santo Antão. The exercise was denominated “Santo Antão 12” (A Semana).

Santo Antão Regional Jail, currently located in the town of Ponta do Sol in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, will be relocated to the sparsely habited region of Aguada de Janela, in the municipality of Paúl (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Portuguese development financing company Sofid has six financing projects in the work for Cape Verde, a market in which it intends to enter the controlled-cost housing, parking, tourism and agriculture sectors. The company’s investment portfolio in the country involves some five million Euros (A Semana).

The vessel Vicente, owned by the Tuninha -Transportes Marítimos SA company, will start operating on the São Vicente/ Santo Antão route from next week in order to fill up the gap left by the Sal Rei vessel that now only operates on Sundays on that route (AW/A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of a Coladera villa, part of the Ponte Bicuda project for Santiago (source).

BUSINESS

The Business Initiative Directive (BID) has highlighted Boa Vista-based business Oásis in its “gold” category, in which some 77 companies throughout the world have been classified, including the firm that built the world’s tallest building. The associates of the Cape Verdean company admitted their “surprise” at the distinction, and affirmed their hope to consolidate their business in Cape Verde and expand internationally (A Semana).

The process to certify some traditional products in Cape Verde such as cheese, rum, wine, and coffee from Fogo Island, are currently underway, the minister for Rural Development, Eva Ortet said (Macauhub).

AGRI ETC.

Both farmers and Minister of Rural Development Eva Ortet confirmed the existence of an unknown disease attacking banana and papaya tress on the island of Santiago. The area of greatest concern is Ribeira dos Picos Engenhos, in the municipality of Santa Cruz (A Semana).

BANKING & FINANCE

The Cape Verde Stock Exchange has suspended the registry of Cape Verdean commercial bank Banco Caboverdiano de Negócios (BCN) as an operator at the institution. The Cape Verde Stock Exchange did not specify the reasons that led it to adopt the drastic measure, but rumors have long been circulating about the bank’s alleged lack of liquidity (A Semana).

Angolan bank Banco BIC is considering acquiring BPN IFI, a unit of the former Portuguese bank, Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) in Cape Verde. Cape Verde was one of the countries in which Banco BIC planned to be present and  regardless of the acquisition of the Cape Verdean bank BIC is already preparing a request for a license to operate in the market through an international financial institution (IFI) (Macauhub).

FISHERIES

Spain plans to fund projects in the fishing sector in Cape Verde and the Spanish council of ministers has already approved a loan of 12.8 million euros. The loan will pay for two projects to design and build facilities for processing, freezing and canning fish, and the coordination centres for these activities, which will be based in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, will also provide support to Spanish companies operating in Cape Verde (Macauhub).

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TELECOMS

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves, said the government will negotiate a new concession agreement with Portugal Telecom and CV Telecom at a meeting in Lisbon on 23 April. He told a press conference that he will meet that day with the board of directors of Portugal Telecom, ahead of CV Telecom’s general meeting at the end of the month. Portugal Telecom owns 40 percent of CV Telecom. Neves denied that the negotiation of a new contract has anything to do with plans for Angolan investment in CV Telecom’s main rival, T + (Telecom Paper).

TOURISM

“In terms of medium-haul destinations, the star is Cape Verde, if we have to choose just one,” according to the president of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (APAVT), Pedro Costa Ferreira, in an interview with website PressTur about the most sought-after destinations on the part of Portuguese tourists (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. For instance with Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling of Blu bar, Santa Maria…!

POLITICS

The Minister of Higher Learning, Science and Innovation, António Correia e Silva, began a four-day visit to the Canary Islands in order to hold discussions with officials from the Spanish autonomous region regarding the installation in Cape Verde of a laboratory aimed at advanced studies on tropical diseases (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries will grant approximately 7,500 hectares of land to Cape Verde for agricultural production and farming, according to an announcement by Cape Verdean Minister of Rural Development Eva Ortet (A Semana).

The Cape Verdean government intends to raise 15 billion escudos (US$ 1 = 83 Cape Verdean Escudos) with which to finance about 4,000 cultural projects in the country over 10 years. This indication was given in Brussels by the Cape Verdean Minister of Culture, Mario Lucio Sousa de Mendes, while presenting a budget proposal for the project to the European parliament (Afrique en Ligne).

China is stepping up its aid to Cape Verde. It will be sending eight medical specialists to Praia’s Agostinho Neto Hospital, 20 vehicles for use by the Cape Verde government as well as an education centre for Sal Island (AW/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, updated recently.

SAL

Pedra de Lume, on the island of Sal, was officially made a National Heritage Site afternoon in a ceremony presided over by Minister of Culture Mário Lúcio Sousa that represented the fulfillment of a long-standing dream on the part of the local population (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

Praia City Hall is planning a new parking system for the capital’s historic Plato district. With the assistance of Lisbon City Hall parking metres will be acquired and the July 5th Park will see the construction of a 250-car parking garage (AW/A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

By the end of this year, farmers in Casa de Meio, a village in the municipality of Porto Novo (Santo Antão), will benefit from a program aimed at powering local water wells using solar panels in order to reduce irrigation water costs in the community (A Semana).

A new rural solar photovoltaic (PV) micro-grid has been commissioned on the island of Santo Antão (Cabo Verde) financed under the ACP-EU Energy Facility programme and led by local private water company Aguas de Porto Novo, in consortium with the local municipality and other entities. An individual energy allowance scheme has been rolled out to provide 60 homes in a village with power from the array (Renewable Energy Magazine).

SAO VICENTE

Two taxi drivers were the victims of robbery and assault over the weekend in Mindelo (A Semana).

SPLIT SECOND POLLS

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Europa Park touristic and real estate development for Santa Maria, on Sal Island (more info & pics, in Portuguese).

ECONOMY

Expomar, Cape Verde’s first fair about sea-related business activities will have 40 exhibitors from the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão, Santiago and São Nicolau and will take up 65 stands in a pavilion at the International Cape Verde Fair (FIC) (Macauhub).

Cape Verde is among the countries that received a higher level of gold exports from Portugal in 2011. Gold imports from that EU country grew by 140% according to INE, the national statistics bureau of Cape Verde (AW/A Semana).

Angola top entrepreneur Isabel dos Santos, daughter of President dos Santos, has started investing in Cape Verde. Dos Santos, the fifth richest woman of Africa, is said to participate strongly in the T+ telecoms company and planning investments in the tourist and real estate sectors (AW/A Semana).

AVIATION

Workers of private airline Halcyonair are threatening a 5-day general strike from April 5th in response to overdue salaries. The strike will affect all the company’s services at Praia’s Nelson Mandela’s International Airport (AW/A Semana).

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FISHERIES

Some 100 metric tons of soldier shrimp can be caught every year on the islands of Boa Vista and Maio, according to Oksana Tariche, the coordinator of PROACTIVA II, a project that is assessing the shrimp potential in Cape Verdean waters (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

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!

PORTS & LOGISTICS

Cape Verdean port management company Enapor – Portos de Cabo Verde over the next 10 months plans to introduce the Single Port Window (Janela Única Portuária – Jupii) system, a project that was launched at the Enapor Mindelo facilities (Macauhub).

TOURISM

The number of hotels and other lodging facilities in Cape Verde grew by almost 10% to 195 entities in 2011, according to INE, the national statistics bureau of Cape Verde. Accommodation grew to almost 8000 rooms with over 14.000 beds last year. In numbers of facilities Santiago is leading with 22 %, followed by Sao Vicente with 16% and Santo Antao with over 14% of total units. In numbers of beds however Sal Island remains leading with over 44% of the total and Boavista in second place with over 31% of all beds. Employment in the hotel branch grew by no less than 27,6% in 2011 to almost 5200 staff. The complete report can be found here (pdf, in Portuguese).

The Cape Verde government has granted 60-year rights for the use of a large land area oo Sao Vicente to the Belgian Talboom Group for the development of a high class tourist resort. The 8,43 hectare project will be at Joao d’Evora Bay (AW/EdI).

UTILITIES

“Electra does not have the capacity to manipulate any price. Our electricity and water invoicing model is transparent.” This was the reaction of water and electricity utility Electra’s CEO, Alexandre Fortes, to accusations leveled by consumer defense association ADECO, which claimed that the company uses a computer program known as ELAG to increase the amounts on its bills and jeopardize consumers (A Semana).

A number of individuals identifying themselves as employees of water and electricity utility Electra are visiting customers’ homes, threatening to cut off their energy supply and providing false information about supposed debts owed to the company. The phony workers, according to Electra, also “levy fines” and collect bill payments, jeopardizing the company’s image (A Semana).

POLITICS

At the international forum on public safety currently taking place in Praia, President Jorge Carlos Fonseca affirmed that the solution to the country’s current problems “is not making laws and more laws,” because “Cape Verde, generally speaking, has good laws” (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Angola and Cape Verde have signed a protocol to facilitate the issuance of visas for short and long trip for their citizens, as well as accord recognition for each other’s driver’s licences (Afrique en Ligne).

A 70-page Cape Verde shadow report provided the U.N. Human Rights Committee shows key recommendations in curbing corporal punishment and sexual abuse. It called for the Cape Verdean government to establish child- and gender-sensitive mechanisms for the mandatory reporting and investigation of such cases. The report also called on the government to integrate the best-interest-of-the-child principle in those mechanisms (Newscenter).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

The Angolan minister of Interior, Sebastiao Martins ended his official visit to the Republic of Cape Verde, having revived bilateral cooperation mainly with regard to security and public order as well as staff training (AllAfrica).

SANTIAGO

Water Resources Group Ltd announced that site preparation has commenced in Cape Verde in support of the Water Offtake Agreement between the Municipality of Santa Catarina and Blue Aquifer LDA, WRG’s 49% owned joint venture company (4 Traders).

The Plateau fruit and vegetable market in Praia is overflowing with produce, all of which is much less expensive than usual thanks to this year’s plentiful rains. Vendors are thankful, but as thermometers in the city begin to rise, they have nowhere to conserve it and have begun to incur losses (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, updated recently.

ECONOMY

Prime Minister José Maria Neves admits that “major restructuring” is needed at TACV Cabo Verde Airlines so that the country’s flagship carrier can be made attractive for privatization. The same will have to take place at water and electricity utility Electra in order to it to provide a “good service to the country.” These two major challenges were voiced on the day in which the government presiding over Cape Verde’s eighth legislature marked the first anniversary of its swearing in, on March 21 (A Semana).

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PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Mussolini Complex for Ribeira Grande, Santo Antao. The complex consists of an appartment complex and the rebuilding of a historic building, named after the former owner´s first name (more).

AVIATION

Chief Executive Officer of private airline Halcyonair, Jorge Spencer Lima, says the Cape Verde aviation sector is “technically bankrupt.” Spencer Lima’s proposal includes the constitution of a holding company, in which current Cape Verdean flagship airline TACV Cabo Verde Airlines would operate all long-haul international flights, Halcyonair domestic and regional flights, and Cabo Verde Express domestic charter flights (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

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 Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling of Blu bar, Santa Maria…!

TOURISM

The island of Santiago has gained a new hotel, the Hotel Cachoeira Tarrafal, located along the shore of Tarrafal bay and featuring 27 double rooms and suites (A Semana).

Another hot mid-haul market, Cape Verde entered the top ten holiday destinations for the first time. With an increase in hotels, charter flights and package holidays over the last few years, they have become a strong rival to the Canaries for those looking for a winter sun retreat (Bradenton).