POLITICS

President Jorge Carlos Fonseca has been invited by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to participate in the High Level Segment of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, known as Rio+20 (A Semana).

Negotiations within the framework of the Partnership for Mobility between Cape Verde and the European Union have been concluded after two years of discussions, with Cape Verde managing to make the long-awaited visa facilitation accord a reality. In order for the accord to be accepted by the EU, Cape Verde had to accept the repatriation of Cape Verdean citizens living illegally in the European Community space (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Finance Minister, Cristina Duarte began a four-day visit to China during which she is scheduled to meet with her Chinese counterpart Xie Xuren as well as with officials from the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministries. Mrs Duarte will also visit Singapore and Japan (AW).

Dutch border police have uncovered a cocaine smuggling route between Peru and the Netherlands. The investigation focuses on two airline employees whose job it was to get the cocaine past customs. The drugs were hidden in the suitcases of drug couriers. So far, 11 suspects have been arrested: eight Dutchmen, two people of ‘no fixed abode’ and one person from the Cape Verde Islands (Focus).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Brazil’s Minister of Defence has said that his government will donate Bandeirante aircraft to Cape Verde for maritime patrol duties, as it strengthens defence cooperation with the archipelago (Defenseweb).

Military and civilian maritime professionals from West Africa, Europe, and the United States finalized a challenging training agenda for exercise Saharan Express 2012, which is to be executed later this spring off the coast of Cape Verde (Defpro).

CULTURE

The winners in the 23 categories in the 2012 edition of the Cabo Verde Music Awards (CVMA) all shared feelings of “joy and responsibility” for the recognition of their work. The night’s big winner was Mirri Lobo, who took home four prizes, but the high point was the message aging singer Bana delivered to the public (A Semana).

SAL

The National Assembly has approved a request undersigned by 1,132 citizens calling for the region of Santa Maria on Sal Island, to be elevated to the category of municipality. The local population is jubilant, but this is only the beginning of a process that will culminate with the approval of a law instituting the new municipality on the island (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

32-year-old Alberto Carlos Monteiro, better known as Calú d’António de Batcha, died in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 11, after being hit by a pickup truck on the newly-opened Ribeira da Torre road in Ribeira Grande, on the island of Santo Antão (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

A Portuguese company will salvage the tug Leopard stranded on Gale beach in Mindelo, as well as the Mar Azul vessel, which sunk in the Porto Grande in 2010 (AW).

ECONOMY

Inflation dropped by 0.5 % to 2,5 % for the month of February 2012. For the full report by INE including figures for the various islands check here (Pdf, in Portuguese).

Expansion and modernization of the Port of Praia is expected to be completed in May 2013 under a project funded by a 200 million-euro line of credit provided by Portugal. Portuguese construction consortium Somague/MSF/Etermar will carry out the second phase of work at a cost of 72 million euros (Dredging Today).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Construction of Cape Verde’s National Stadium in Praia.

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AVIATION

One of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ ATR aircrafts, which was carrying out a regularly scheduled flight between Praia and Sal, was forced to return to Praia International Airport because of a technical problem, according to information from the company’s press office (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.

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of 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 Paulino Dias of PD Consult…

TELECOMS

Portugal Telecom and CV Telecom launched a service aimed at the Cape Verde diaspora in Portugal, estimated at around 87,000 people, called Da $aldo Internacional. The service enables any TMN client in Portugal to make top-ups to people in Cabo Verde who are customers of CVMovel. Top-ups sent from CVMovel to TMN customers in Portugal will also launch soon. The top-ups can be made at any ATM or PayShop (Telecom Paper).

TOURISM

Britons are the largest group among Cape Verde’s tourists with 19%. Germans and Italians are in second and third place. For a full statistical report on Cape Verde’s tourists in 2011 check the INE site (Pdf, in Portuguese).

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POLITICS

Minister for Infrastructure and Maritime Resources José Maria Veiga will leave the government next week in order to run for Mayor of Santa Catarina in this years local elections. According to A Semana newspaper, his most likely replacement in the government will be Franklin Spencer, the current director of ENAPOR, Cape Verde’s port authority (AW).

Indeed, Africa has had her fair share of revolutionaries – from Sankara to Nkrumah to Mandela – many of them espousing ideals of freedom and justice. One leader that is hardly talked about is Amilcar Cabral. Yet his legacy is very important for contemporary Africa (BusinessDay Online).

President Jorge Carlos Fonseca visited the remote towns of Tarrafal de Monte Trigo and Monte Trigo on Santo Antao’s south coast last week and H.E. arrived in a most original way. Cape Verde’s brandnew patrol boat Guardiao took Mr Fonseca and his staff from Mindelo to Santo Antao and the president was helped ashore in a smaller craft (AW).

INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde is fashionable! After AMD’s new computer chip named Cape Verde, now British fashion brand Next have launched their highly anticipated Summer 2012 fashion collection. For those favouring the tropical motif trend, women’s dresses and tops in bright prints against muted khakis make up the Cape Verde collection (Market Watch). The collection can be found here.

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verdean military personnel participated last weekend in an exercise alongside the French infantry. The tests were carried out at the Morro Branco Military Instruction Center on the island of São Vicente (A Semana).

CULTURE

The new edition of the Cabo Verde Music Awards is on Saturday night March 10th. For more info click here. Among those participating are big names such as Lura, Beto Dias, Johnny Ramos, Gil Semedo, Mirri Lobo and Dina Medina. You can also watch the show live here.

Lura bringing her unique fusion of music to İstanbul. The 37-year-old singer is now set to astound Turkish audiences when she takes to the stage this weekend at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRRKS) in İstanbul with a selection of her most beautiful songs. Ahead of her anticipated concert on Friday night at the CRRKS, Lura speaks to Today’s Zaman about her career and her music.

DIASPORA

Community members from all walks of life came out to support the Oak Grove Cape Verdean Cultural Center’s Spring Fling Dinner and Dance on March 2 at the Dudley L. Brown VFW in Onset. “The whole community came out, and I’m not talking about just the Cape Verdean community, the [whole] town community,” said Donna Barros, treasurer for the Cultural Center (Wareham).

Santo Antão-born model Zuleica Veríssimo was elected “People’s Lady of Madrid” and “Lady of Madrid” on Friday, March 2. In addition to a monetary prize, the new “Lady of Madrid” (a sort of Miss Madrid) will participate, in the coming months, in a new beauty contest in which the next “Lady of Spain” will be chosen (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

The inauguration of Cape Verde’s new national stadium, on the outskirts of the capital city Praia, has been delayed for 15 months due to changes related to building more stands at both ends of the venue. The information was given by the job’s contractor, Chinese company Top International Engineering Corporation, which will add further capacity of 5,000 people to the stadium by increasing the number of seats to 15,000 (Macauhub).

SAO VICENTE

Water and electricity utility Electra has dismantled an illegal electricity and water grid serving at least 60 shanties and houses in the Ribeirinha neighborhood of Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. A total of 16 individuals suspected of electricity and water theft were identified by police (A Semana).

ECONOMY

The Leeward Islands Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services is promoting the participation of a Cape Verdean business delegation in the 19th edition of the Barcelona food fair in Spain, which takes place between March 26 and 29 (A Semana).

Casinos Morabeza of Las Palmas, Spain, and the Oasis Atlantico hotel group of Portugal have joined forces to obtain a licence for operating casinos in Cape Verde. The casinos will be installed in hotels owned by Oasis Atlantico on Sal Island and in Praia. In a second phase, a casino will be integrated in a future 5 star luxury hotel te be built by Oasis Atlantico on a plot near its Praiamar hotel in Praia, the Oásis Atlântico Prainha Suite Hotel (AW).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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AVIATION

The employees of private airline Halcyonair working at Praia International Airport submitted a complaint to the Directorate General of Labor, informing the government department that they have not been paid their wages for the past five months (A Semana).

João Pereira Silva, who has been tapped to head TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ new Board of Directors, has called on two Cape Verdean professionals working abroad, engineer João Carlos Silva and business administrator Marco Pereira, to form the team with which he will manage Cape Verde’s flagship airline (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 Emanuel Spencer of SCI, Cape Verde’s first multinational…

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FISHERIES

Cape Verde’s fishing sector will this year be able to account for over 50 percent of the country’s exports, the secretary of state for Marine Resources, Adalberto Vieira said (Macauhub).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Vista Ponta do Sol residential project planned for Ponta do Sol, Santo Antao Island (source).

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INTERNATIONAL

A mission made up of entrepreneurs and representatives from various institutions from Fortaleza, the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceará, will visit Cape Verde between April 19 and 26. Among other objectives, the mission is aimed at promoting relations between the customs departments of Brazil and Cape Verde (A Semana).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

The commander of Brazil’s Marine Corps and his Cape Verdean counterpart signed a protocol for the former to supply uniforms to the Cape Verdean Coast Guard (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.

DIASPORA

The Cape Verdean Museum in East Providence is open for the season, from 1 to 5 pm. The museum is located at 1003 Waterman Ave. The museum is the only museum in America dedicated to the history and culture of Cape Verde and the Cape Verdeans in America (Patch).

FOGO

The São Francisco de Assis Socio-Health Center, owned by the Solidarity for Development Association (ASDE) on the island of Fogo, will become the Fogo-Brava Regional Hospital, following remodeling and the acquisition of new equipment, according to an announcement from Minister of Health Cristina Fontes Lima (A Semana).

A new seismic network for the surveillance and monitoring of seismic activity on the island of Fogo is being installed on the island with the prupose of strengthening the capacity to reduce volcanic hazards (Atlantico Weekly).

SANTO ANTAO

The most well-known Cape Verdean personality in the world of science, Roberto Duarte Silva, who is best remembered for his work in the field of Organic Chemistry, was born 175 years ago. February 25th marked the 175th anniversary of his birth in Povoação de Ribeira Grande, in 1837. He passed away on February 9, 1889, in Paris, France (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 …!

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AVIATION

The outgoing CEO of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, António Neves, said on his Facebook page that the company had posted losses of 65,000,000 escudos in 2010 – results that, according to him, may be considered to be positive, in comparison to the losses of 814 million and 241 million escudos registered in 2008 and 2009, respectively (A Semana).

ENERGY

Cape Verde’s stated objective is to have 50% of all energy consumed in 2020 produced from renewable sources. In order to help the country achieve this goal, Luxembourg has provided 55 million escudos financing to help definitively implement projects in the sector. In order to guarantee the sustainability of the sector, Luxembourg is also setting up a professional school aimed specifically at the area of renewable energies (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…!

TRANSPORT

The Cape Verdean government will pay more than 1,300,000,000 escudos to conclude work on Sal Rei sea port, on the island of Boa Vista. The expansion of the port, which was originally budgeted at 3.5 billion escudos, has so far swallowed up some 4.8 billion escudos. At the moment work is at a near standstill, with large numbers of workers being laid off (A Semana).

POLITICS

A movement has sprung up on Facebook in reaction to Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves’s decision to rename Praia International Airport after the South African leader Nelson Mandela. The movement stresses not to hold anything against Mr Mandela, but hopes to convince the government that there are enough Cape Verdean personalities that could be similarly honoured. An Atlantico Weekly poll (still open, in Portuguese) puts those that want to keep the airport’s present name at 47% and those in favor of honouring Mr Mandela at under 9%. Other names favoured are those of former president Pedro Pires and of the late composer Orlando Pantera.

INTERNATIONAL

The Summary for Policy Makers presents the main findings and policy options identified by the report on climate change vulnerabilities in in Cape Verde. The study, funded under the One UN Fund in Cape Verde, was led by the Government of Cape Verde, with support from the United Nations Country team, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Enda Tiers Monde (AllAfrica).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verde plans to set up partnerships with countries such as Portugal and Brazil to acquire fixed wing aircraft to patrol and inspect Cape Verde’s territorial waters, while negotiation with China for the acquisition of helicopters is at an advanced stage (Macauhub).

SANTIAGO

“Electra is an outlaw institution.” This was Praia mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva’s reaction after water and electricity utility Electra cut off the electrical supply to several of the Praia municipal chamber’s installations, including city hall, for lack of payment of outstanding bills. Correia e Silva promises harsh measures on the part of the Praia municipal chamber (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.

SANTO ANTAO

The township of Monte Trigo, in the south of Santo Antão island, now benefits from a new and renewable energy production and distribution system, that functions by means of photovoltaic panels (Atlantico Weekly).

ECONOMY

According to the latest IMF (International Monetary Fund) projections, GDP growth in Cape Verde is expected to rise to 7.1% by 2013. The fresh aid injection by the Millenium Challenge Account will give things an extra boost. Read more good news (Opp).

The Cape Verde government still has to reimburse hundreds of millions of escudos of VAT, payment of which has been frozen since March 2011. The Chairman of the Barlavento Chamber of Commerce, Manuel Monteiro, has warned that this puts a lot of businesses at grave risk. The root of the problem apparently lies in a shortage of staff at the Tax Dept to take care of the rising piles of reimbursemnt requests, A Semana reports (Atlantico Weekly).

Although Cape Verde’s exports have grown with 37,6%  in 2011, the deficit on the country’s trade balance is rising again, with 20,4% last year. Europe is still Cape Verde’s most important trading partner, receiving around 94% of exports and providing almost 82% of Cape Verde’s imports (Atlantico Weekly).

AGRI ETC

Over three thousand people from all over Santiago visited the three day long  agribusiness trade fair at São Lourenço dos Órgãos.  A delagate of the Ministry of Rural Development, Cândida Cardoso, told A Semana that this “mew experience” served to create the possibility of a monthly mobile trade fair for the island (AW).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Overview of the Fortim Mindelo hotel, casino and residential project, currently under construction on Sao Vicente.

BANKING

HarborOne Credit Union could one day be able to transfer funds and make deposits in the Cape Verde Islands, according to a proposal being explored by the Brockton-based credit union. HarborOne President and CEO James Blake said the credit union recently received a request from the president of Cape Verde to open a multicultural banking center in his country west of the African continent (The Sun Chronicle).

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 Patone Lobo of the Odjo d’Agua Hotel!

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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

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

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

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. The latest interview was with Emanuel Spencer of SCI, Cape Verde’s  first multinational company.

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

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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

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

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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