Although the official language of Cape Verde is Portuguese, what you hear on the streets is often a Creole mixture of Portuguese and West African tribal languages. The Cape Verdeans — many of whom live abroad and send money home to their families — are hoping the next decade will finally bring development and prosperity to their isolated archipelago.

For the residents of São Vicente and the eight other inhabited islands of Cape Verde, the long-awaited economic prosperity may soon be a reality. The country’s climate, with about 360 days of sun a year, and its relatively undiscovered beaches are attracting international hotel chains, as well as middle-class Europeans looking for inexpensive winter homes. On many of Cape Verde’s virgin beaches, and in the empty, dry hills behind them, signs of development range from the faint outlines of streets bulldozed into the sand to the gray concrete foundations of imposing new hotels and residential villas.

In Santa Maria, on the island of Sal, where tourism was once confined to a few blocks within the center of town, ribbons of new asphalt stretch for miles into the flat, desert-like terrain. Convoys of construction vehicles noisily move about the area, leaving new residential communities in their wake.

Much of what is happening on Sal and São Vicente resembles the mid-20th-century development of Las Vegas. But while the expansion of Vegas into the desert of southern Nevada succeeded because of the casinos, Cape Verde development will succeed not because of gaming but because of the wide, blue backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. The price of water-view land here is much lower than in southern Europe and the Caribbean. For thousands of sun-starved northern Europeans, and for more and more Americans priced out of Hawaii or California, the lure of distant Cape Verde is becoming difficult to resist.

The Cape Verde government is pushing hard for overseas investment, making it easy for foreigners to purchase land for hotels or residential use, or to establish light manufacturing firms in duty-free zones — a result of the 2000 African Growth and Opportunity Act, U.S. legislation designed to promote a market-based economy in sub-Saharan Africa. While the infrastructure on the islands is not yet ready for mass tourism, this attempt at economic revival is already visible in the increased number of business and leisure visitors to the islands.

In 1991 there were 19,000 tourist arrivals into Cape Verde. Within 10 years the number of overseas visitors reached 161,000; and more than 200,000 are expected this year. For the past century, many Cape Verdeans went to Portugal, their former colonizer, or to the fishing towns south of Boston to find employment. But with more jobs opening up in Cape Verde’s tourism and construction industries, the traditional outward migration pattern is reversing, and many Cape Verdeans are returning home, hoping to participate in the national dream of economic prosperity.

In Mindelo — a beautiful but poor 19th-century port town on São Vicente — young Cape Verdean real estate agents, recently returned from working or studying in Boston, take prospective buyers around the island, showing them everything from charming Portuguese colonial homes with harbor views to large tracts of pristine beachfront property outside of town. At Baia das Gatas, where the Atlantic meets the desert a few minutes from town, a 5-star resort and PGA golf course, part of the well-known Nikki Beach brand, are under development. Nearby, the concrete shells of vacation homes protrude from the dry, rugged hillsides overlooking the sea. In Mindelo an upscale residential development called Fortim is already sold out, and across the island São Pedro Development is constructing a new townhouse community for more than 6,000 residents.

The land on São Vicente, as on the other islands, is stunning but raw. These desperately dry islands have suffered a drought for decades, and fresh water is scarce and expensive. Desalination plants help somewhat, as do windmills that catch ocean breezes to pump water from deep wells and produce electrical power for residential use. If the islands expect to attract well-heeled tourists and year round retirees, however, the water supply, island transportation, gas stations, shops, supermarkets and medical facilities will have to be upgraded, and critics say these improvements may be decades away.

But many foreign investors and celebrity designers already have a vision of what could be here one day, and they are not waiting for the drought to end or for services to expand. It was obvious from my own travels around the islands that construction of oceanfront dream houses, new resort properties and vacation condominiums are underway.

Cape Verdeans, descendants of African slaves and 17th-century European seafarers, are anxious about large-scale development and the change in lifestyle it will surely bring. Although local musicians still sing about the beautiful sunsets and quiet villages of their sultry islands, other residents worry about the environmental pressures of development as concrete blocks begin to sprout along the beachfront.

Everyone knows it will take time for progress — in the form of traffic jams and mass tourism — to reach these far-flung islands, so in the meantime most residents keep things simple by looking up at the cloudless sky and praying for a deluge of warm African rain.

Entry Requirements
A passport, valid for a minimum of six months, and a visa are necessary for travel to Cape Verde. Although visas can be obtained upon arrival at one of Cape Verde’s international airports, it is best to secure the documentation from a Cape Verde embassy or consulate prior to arrival in the country. Portuguese is the official language; English is spoken by many in the business community.

More Information
Consulate General of Cape Verde
607 Boylston St., 4th floor
Boston, MA 02116
tel 617 353 0014