Cabo Verde has recently signed contracts for two large hotel developments in Praia, putting private investment in tourism on the archipelago over the past year above €1.07 billion.
According to the authorisation granted by the Council of Ministers’ resolution to the National Ports Management Company (Enapor) of 26 March and consulted today by Lusa, one of these recent deals involves the construction of the four-star hotel complex Radisson Praia & Conference.
According to the document, this project will create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Cape Verdean capital – in an area of one hectare that will be landfilled in Gamboa bay – with the government highlighting its relevance and declaring it “of exceptional interest,” in a private investment estimated at €135 million.
With its 18 floors, the building is a project promoted by the Cape Verdean group Ocean Park – Hotels & Resorts, whose construction, planned for two years, should begin this year, according to information from the promoters.
“The Radisson Praia project aims to diversify accommodation on the island of Santiago, attracting tourists from Europe and beyond, contributing to the increase of tourism in the country,” the developers said in the Environmental Impact Study.
The main feature is that the building will be built on an artificial platform in the bay, an “embankment area built in a modern way,” using concrete boxes, creating an area of over a hectare and, as well as the hotel, a new promenade for public use.
In addition to this investment, another €100 million will also be invested to build, as of September, the first Mélia Lusofonia on Santiago island, with 470 rooms and 160 flats, generating 400 direct jobs, according to an agreement signed with the state this week.
With these two investments, the contracts of private promoters, in hotels and tourism, signed with the Cape Verdean state since April, after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, amount to €1.07 billion and almost 8,500 jobs. It involves, besides Radisson Praia and Mélia Lusofonia, two other mega-developments, two five-star hotels of the Marriot chain and 21 investments with tourism utility status, according to official data compiled by Lusa.
The president of the Cabo Verde Chamber of Tourism, Gualberto do Rosário, said this month, in an interview with Lusa, that businesspeople had not stopped investing, despite the impact of the pandemic, expecting even more growth in the sector in the short term.
“Once the pandemic is solved, I foresee that the sector will return to normal, and hopefully with more vigour, as it had been growing. Businesspeople in general, both nationals and foreign investors, realise this and are preparing for the recovery,” said the official, while admitting that most hotels in Cape Verde remain closed due to the impacts of Covid-19.
Tourism accounts for about 25% of Cape Verde’s gross domestic product (GDP). Still, the sector has been at a virtual standstill since the end of March 2020 due to travel restrictions imposed to contain the transmission of Covid-19, after the historic record of 819,000 tourists in 2019.
In 2020, the sector lost more than 600,000 tourists, a drop of over 70% compared to the previous year.
