Contrasts and disparities in Cape Verde: the emergence of an island nation
Note: It feels rather surreal posting this at a time when the world is struggling with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic with a quarter of the world’s population in some form of lock-down. Travel bans and border closures are changing people’s ability and desire to travel. However, after some thought, I felt it might still provide an interesting read or perhaps prove useful at some point in the future. At the time of posting, Cape Verde has now confirmed its first death from the virus on the island of Boavista. Despite the country’s relative isolation, there is no doubt it will not escape the impact of the global crisis. I hope you, along with your families and friends stay safe throughout this difficult period.
Introduction
A busy day at Mindelo fish market, Sao Vicente
Since achieving independence in 1975, Cape Verde has taken great strides forward. Development statistics show marked improvements such as in the rise of life expectancy, marked increases in literacy, improved sanitation and significant increases in the number of doctors. In 2007 these trends led to Cape Verde’s being upgraded by the United Nations from being a “least developed country” to a lower middle income one. However, there was been a sting in the tail, as some sources of aid funding dried up along with the fall-out from the 2008 global financial crisis. Nevertheless, Cape Verde has the eleventh highest GDP per capita in Africa. Overseas capital investment has continued, with the USA and Europe playing their parts, but dwarfed by the increased influence of Chinese capital.
Contrasts and disparities
From travelling around the islands and speaking to some locals, Cape Verdeans understandably convey a proudness of what they have achieved whilst maintaining their traditions and culture. Several times we were told that Santo Antão now has its own cement production facility which can be visited as part of a tour! This is not to say though that the benefits of recent development have been widely and evenly distributed.
To accompany the backdrop of striking landscapes, blue skies and the turquoise ocean, there are other less comfortable sides when travelling around the archipelago. Like other countries, there are evident contrasts and inequalities. For many Cape Verdeans living in rudimentary dwellings, a hard life tilling terraces in hot, dry conditions still prevails. Although our visit only allowed time for general observations rather than detailed investigations, the following made strong impressions on us:
Making the most of Fogo’s soils
numerous people eking out a living in a seemingly unfavourable environment. Yet from having a harsh and sun-baked terrain, they manage to grow a wide range of crops.
locals living around the rim of Cova de Paul, Santo Antão, having to descend into the crater to collect and carry water twice a day, either on foot or with a donkey
mobile and internet technology sitting alongside labourers arduously chipping away at small basalt rocks to lay the paths and roads
contrast between those of limited means and living in very basic dwellings, and migrants who have returned from the United States or Europe with far greater wealth.
the existence of a foodbank in Santa Maria, Sal, compared to the wide choice of food provided at an all-inclusive hotel just up the road
staying at a comfortable all-inclusive hotel on Boavista when a couple of kilometres away is a shanty town of Barracas, housing people with very little
Unemployment, remittances and returning home
Unemployment is significant across the islands. Average unemployment in 2012-13 was above 16% but currently hovers around 12%. Furthermore, it was impossible not to notice that some people were effectively under-employed including an apparent excess of security, service assistance and grounds maintenance at some hotels.
Of course, there are strong disparities between the islands, with Fogo, for instance, traditionally having higher unemployment at around 30-40%. Over the years a lot of Fogo people have emigrated to the United States and sent back remittances. Remittances are believed to account for around 20% of the country’s GDP. These reduced following the 2008 financial crisis but recovered. One can empathise with those who see little future for themselves due to difficult socio-economic conditions and seek what they hope will be a better life elsewhere. Today, many more Cape Verdeans live outside the country than within the islands. However, the World Bank now reports that global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020, the sharpest decline in recent history, due to the economic crisis induced by the pandemic. With the US unemployment rate climbing steeply, it seems Cape Verde will not escape this fall out.
However, to attract some of these people ‘home’, the government has offered incentives. Supported by attractive tax-free savings schemes, emigrant deposits are now the largest single category of deposits in the national banking system. Aside from depositing their savings in homeland banks, emigrants are also investing in real estate, farmland, transportation, hotels, and other new business ventures. A strong emotional bond exists between the homeland and the diaspora. A growing trend sees emigrants returning to retire. Now a number of returnees have built themselves fine, large houses on acquired land often contrasting with the poorer, more limited homes that might exist a little further along the road. Sometimes a more upmarket car can be seen at the property as a further sign of their resident’s status, even if it might be unsuitable on the local cobbled roads!
Sobrado, Sao Filipe - now the town hall
In Fogo’s capital, São Filipe, many sobrados (townhouses or colonial mansions) have been designated for conservation. Some have been attractively restored, often painted in striking colours, but others lie untouched or deteriorating further due to the owners or investors lacking the means to renovate them. It would be a great shame if this colonial heritage underpinning the city’s attempted UNESCO World Heritage designation was allowed to irreversibly decay.
Tourism – an economic strategy
Main street of Santa Maria, Sal
Tourism has been identified as a key strategic component for the development of the islands, although hopefully it will not be pursued to the point of undermining the quality of what it is able to offer. It seems understandable that both Boavista and Santa Maria on Sal were identified as major tourist development locations to bring much needed money into the country from international visitors, given the limited economic alternatives these particular islands have. At the same time, it raises questions about the longer term sustainability given the demands placed on water, electricity and imported foods which one suspects must put constraints on the capacity to expand.
The grounds of international resort hotels on Sal are extremely well maintained
There is talk of future developments, and evidence of land plots being earmarked for new construction. In places new developments seem to be part-finished. For instance, a new hotel is being built at Salinas das Sao Jorge on Fogo. Even though the main building appears to be virtually finished, the surrounds are a long way from being finished. When we visited its adjacent beach on a weekday, there was no obvious sign of any further construction activity taking place. There have been plans for more hotel and resort developments on several of the islands such as Boavista, Sal and Fogo but a number of these are struggling to come to fruition. This leaves open the question as to whether such cases are just temporary lulls, or the wider economic strategy is coming under pressure and some investments are failing. Does this mean the demand is no longer there, or has the financing dried up, perhaps linked to the legacy of the global financial crisis? More strategically, does it highlight the fact that Cape Verde is highly susceptible to the cycles and crises of the international economy, and now at the time of writing, the unfolding impact of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic?
Transport
For an island nation, links between its constituent parts are crucial. Reliance has heavily existed on a network of inter-island flights, but not all islands have an airport. Plans have been put forward to build an airport on Santo Antão, but to date nothing has materialised.
Ferries have not been a key component for inter-island travel, partly due to the distances involved and the likelihood of rough seas. A regular ferry links São Vicente with Santo Antão. Another connects Santiago, Fogo & Brava. However, more recently there have been concerted attempts to maintain some regular ferry services between some of the islands that have in the past been notoriously unreliable. Even today independent travellers should check the schedules carefully.
The future
Of course, in addition to the impact of coronavirus on the aviation sector, there are wider considerations around flying. Will the increased awareness about the role of air travel on the climate crisis affect international visitor levels and therefore curb the demand and impact on the country? One hopes that the local authorities are also cognizant of an economic strategy that seeks to boost tourism could eventually undermine the very qualities that make Cape Verde a fascinating and dramatic destination in the first place.
It is to be hoped that in the years to come the fruits of efforts to improve the lives of Cape Verdeans are more widely shared. However, when development is highly dependent on tourism during an age of seemingly continual financial, public health and climate uncertainty, this leaves the country at the mercy of events without being able to exercise any strong influence over their unfolding and mitigation. Yet despite facing these forces, Cape Verde offers much and will remain a country worth visiting.
