A key factor to consider when investing is demand fundamentals and future property supply. Since most property currently being built or planned is tourist-orientated demand for property to rent will depend on how tourist numbers develop. To some extent, since many end buyers initially arrive as tourists, this will also influence sales.

The National Statistics Institute (INE) says that around 250,000 tourists arrived in 2006 – a 25% increase over 2005. Seventy percent of tourists visited Sal and 15% Santiago, while 75% of visitors stayed in hotels. INE estimates that tourist arrivals will increase by 22% this year and forecasts around 1m tourists annually by 2015. It also predicts that the number of cruise ships visiting the islands will increase from 30 in 2006 to as many as 70 this year, further putting the destination on the tourist trail.

Cape Verde and Portugal have decided to draw up a plan of action for the West African archipelago to be granted special status in relation to the European Union (EU), Cape Verde’s ambassador to Portugal, Arnaldo Andrade told Radio Cabo Verde Thursday in Portugal. The ambassador said that the decision had been taken Tuesday in Lisbon during a three-way meeting between representatives of the European Commission, Cape Verde and Portugal, to discuss the special partnership that the archipelago plans to set up with the 27 countries of the EU.
Andrade also said that the plan of action, which was being submitted to the European Commission, was “a first concrete step” towards the partnership, as “for the first time, we have moved ahead with something concrete, other than just statements.”

The Cape Verdean diplomat admitted that the process would be a long one as there was no precedent set for a country outside the European continent to have a special status in relation to the EU.

Andrade noted however that the governments of Portugal, Spain and Luxembourg had supported Cape Verde’s move to be granted special status.

Ten Cape Verdean non-governmental organizations received a total of some one million euros yesterday to finance projects. The European Union donation was channelled through Portugal’s Valle-Flor Institute. Cape Verde’s NGO Platform, the National Youth Center and the Association of Journalists of Cape Verde are among the NGOs benefiting from the donation. The financing will be channelled into local development projects.

Eight of the projects financed are located on the island of Santiago, one on the island of Maio and the other on the island of Santo Antão, Valle Flor Institute representative Hermínia RIbeiro Basto told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The Institute will support the NGOs and their projects over the next two years, the official said, explaining that the projects in question are all initiatives of members of civil society and will have a direct impact on local development.

The Valle Flor Institute, which has been working in Cape Verde since 2001, is supporting a total of 13 development projects in the country, according to Basto. Of this total, only one is not financed by the European Union - the future creation of a community radio station on the island of Maio, which is being financed by the city of Loures.

Eduardo Sorribes, the EU business attaché in Praia, also told Lusa that the aid being given is part of a special NGO support fund, and that Cape Verde also receives EU support from other EU sources as well.

The Valle-Flor Institute, a non-governmental development organization, was created in 1951, and in 1995 was given honorary membership in the Order of Merit by the Portuguese president. The Institute’s main aim is the development of humanitarian aid, education and economic, social and cultural development programs. It operates in all of the world’s officially Portuguese-speaking counties.