Foreign investment between 2007 and 2011 expected to reach 620 billion escudos

Foreign investment in Cape Verde is expected to total 620 billion escudos between 2007 and 2011, according to data from investment and tourism promotion agency Cabo Verde Investimentos.

This year, total foreign investments in the country should reach 56.6 million escudos, while in 2011 the figure is predicted to hit 214 billion escudos. Cabo Verde Investimentos believes that an additional 31,882 job posts will be created in the country between now and then.

The main destination of these investments will be the island of Santiago, which will receive almost a third of the total. Santiago will be followed by Sal and São Vicente, with São Nicolau and Santo Antão, the country’s most mountainous islands and those most suitable for eco-tourism, coming in at the end of the list.

According to Portuguese news agency Lusa, the figures were announced last week to a mission of 22 Portuguese entrepreneurs visiting the archipelago to evaluate investment perspectives.

In the past six years, Cape Verde has received some 79.4 billion escudos in foreign investments. The annual figure has been increasing steadily since 2001. This year, projects totaling some 237 million escudos have been executed so far, allowing for the projected creation of 16,715 jobs, according to Cabo Verde Investimentos.

Most foreign investments in Cape Verde are in the tourism, banking, real-estate and construction sectors.

In all of Africa, Cape Verde is currently the country in which the service sector weighs heaviest I nthe economy (74%). Agriculture represents a mere 9% of the country’s GDP.

20-09-07