Press Release Summary: Among all the island paradises where British tourists may wish to go, the Cape Verde holiday home is emerging as one of the most attractive. Much nearer than the Maldives and not prone to seasonal storms like the Caribbean.
Press Release Body: Among all the island paradises where British tourists may wish to go, the Cape Verde holiday home is emerging as one of the most attractive. Much nearer than the Maldives and not prone to seasonal storms like the Caribbean, the archipelago off the coast of west Africa, a former Portuguese colony, has emerged as an increasingly popular place to go.
Yet it is still only just being discovered, according to Global Emerging Market Estates, a company specialising in property in Cape Verde new markets.
Spokesperson Carley Todd explained what a new market Cape Verde still is: \"Cape Verde is an emerging market because it is largely undiscovered,\" she said, adding: \"and still now most people didn\'t know it existed.\"
For those who do, she said, the benefits are \"massive\", noting that: \"The investment is good because of the expected capital appreciation and rental yields.\"
There are a number of reasons for this, she states. Firstly, there is the ease of travel, being just five and a half hours from the UK by air and served by three airports. Then there is the climate, with year-round sunshine but no tropical storms, meaning a 40-week season rather than 25. \"Cape Verde is on average 25 degrees all year round so max rental returns will be achieved,\" she advised.
In addition to this, she said, there were beautiful white sandy beaches, clear blue sea and plenty of tourist facilities, while the prices for properties varied between £53,000 for a studio property and £245,000 for a three-bed luxury villa overlooking the sea.
With such prices available, many investors will be keen to know more about the country. At present, the indicators are positive. Macauhub reported yesterday that this year, based on figures available from January to August, the Cape Verdean central bank has predicted gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 6.2 per cent this year.
The central bank adds that corporate investment is set to double to 25 per cent of GDP, fuelled by the greater availability of credit, \"suggesting the continuity of monetary condition [is] favourable to the expansion of economic activity\".
Furthermore, the report notes, the country has the largest service sector as a proportion of the economy in all Africa (74 per cent), which means that a growing tourist industry has a larger impact on the overall economy than might be the case elsewhere.
Compared with other African countries, Cape Verde certainly has many advantages. The BBC reported today that the nation came fourth in sub-Saharan Africa for good governance in the Ibrahim Index, run by Sudanese mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim. Two of the three countries above it, Mauritius and the Seychelles, are also island nations with stable governments and popularity with tourists. Cape Verde enjoys a peaceful democracy with a two-party system.
Thus a broad assessment of Cape Verde indicates that it is a stable, growing and attractive place. But as Carley Todd stated, many don\'t even know where it is. Given the prices of property on the island, investors may well be advised to find out before everyone else does.
2022
