Africa-Press – Cape verde. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva highlighted, this Sunday, 13, in Boa Vista, the importance that the Riu Group has for the Cape Verdean economy. This morning, the head of the Government inaugurated the renovation and expansion works of the Riu Karamboa hotel, on the island of the dunes, in the presence of Joan Riu, Member of the Board of Directors of this Spanish group. The investment of 50 million euros reflects the commitment and importance that the Cape Verde destination has for the company’s operations. In the market for 17 years, the Riu is one of the largest private employers in the country, currently generating 2,839 jobs, with six hotels in Sal and Boa Vista. The Touareg should be the next to undergo requalification works.
In full swing, with 80% of the occupancy, mostly by English tourists, the renovation works at the Riu Karamboa, in Boa Vista, were inaugurated this morning by Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, in the presence of Joan Riu, Member of the Board of Directors of Grupo Riu and Marco Rodrigues, Director of Karamboa, among other guests and national and foreign media.
The head of government was received with enthusiasm by Joan Riu, who, in addition to being a member of the company’s Board of Directors, is the son of the magnate Carmem Riu, this morning at the Hotel Karamboa, for a symbolic ribbon cutting, which marks the inauguration of the requalification works to which this hotel infrastructure was subjected. Ulisses Correia e Silva, who was full of praise for the Riu group, praised that the result of the works translates into an increase in the “quality” of the tourist offer and the Cape Verde destination.
A “reference” group
The prime minister, who had the opportunity to pay a visit to see the new Karamboa in loco, praised the importance that this Spanish company has for the development of the Cape Verdean economy.
“The Riu group is a good taxpayer in terms of taxes for Cabo Verde”, the head of the Government began by saying, also highlighting that, due to the “jobs it creates”, and the “investment it promotes”, such as the “upgrade” that they do in the hotels in Sal and Boa Vista, “are a reference group for Cape Verde”.
50 million invested
The requalification works on Karamboa, which became “only for adults”, represents an investment of 50 million euros, in a context of post-pandemic and global uncertainty generated by the war in Ukraine, but which, according to Juan Riu, reflects the importance of the Cape Verdean market for the company, taking into account that the archipelago, as he said, “in terms of volume is the fifth most relevant destination” for the company, representing, at the level of employees, between 7 and 8%.
“But all this in a very short time”, he noted, to clarify that Cape Verde already competes, for example, with the Dominican Republic, where they started in the 90s, taking into account that in Cape Verde they started in 2004. “The growth of Cape Verde Verde, inside the Riu, is comparatively high”, he pointed out.
Investing in infrastructure improvement
Joan Riu reiterated that the group wants to continue to be a development partner for the aqruipelago, but “advised” the Government to continue to bet and invest in the “improvement” of infrastructure in Boa Vista, such as “electricity, sanitation and health”, among others. others.
Essential conditions for this group to continue to invest in Boa Vista, where it still has land to build new hotels.
Meanwhile, Joan Riu advanced or THE NATION that the Touareg, also on the island of the dunes, should undergo requalification works in the coming years, with no new investments being planned for now. Also because, as he showed, the damage of “two closed years” with the pandemic must be recovered.
95% Cape Verdean labor
In this context, the recovery is proceeding at a good pace, as Marco Rodrigues, director of Karamboa, told A NAÇÃO online, taking into account that they are currently 80% occupied, most of them English, but also Germans, Portuguese, among others.
According to this source, Karamboa currently has 420 employees, 95% of whom are Cape Verdean and the remaining Senegalese.
The requalification works allowed an upgrade to 968 rooms, that is, 112 more than those registered before the interventions, increasing the supply capacity.
It should be noted that the Riu group currently has six resorts in Cape Verde, three in Boa Vista and three also in Sal, contributing to the generation of 2,839 jobs in the country, being currently one of the largest private employers nationwide.
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