Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Municipality of Santa Cruz today signed a memorandum of understanding with the ‘Blue Ocean Development & Investment Bureau’ aimed at strengthening strategic partnerships, attracting investments, and boosting structuring projects for the sustainable development of Santiago Island.
The signing ceremony was attended by the co-founder of the ‘Blue Ocean Development & Investment Bureau’, Sandro Lopes, who highlighted that the memorandum represents a strategic step to “create ties with Cape Verdean stakeholders” and position the country internationally through structuring projects.
He explained that the Bureau is a consulting, program management, and development platform oriented towards the market and innovation, aligned with national priorities in environmental sustainability, economic development, and community strengthening.
The organization works in conjunction with investors, international financing agencies, global companies in the hotel sector, airlines, and tourism partners.
Sandro Lopes emphasized that Santiago is the pioneering island in this initial phase, as it concentrates the country’s capital and has strategic conditions to drive large investments.
“Let’s start here. Santa Cruz has been developing interesting projects, and there are others underway, such as the deep-water port project. Since the mayor is also president of the Association of Municipalities of Santiago, this collaboration makes perfect sense,” he said.
Among the areas under study are projects that could elevate Santa Cruz “to another level,” promoting social and economic prosperity, as well as the international projection of the municipality, with emphasis on the export of bananas, brandy, and other local products.
The official also announced a hospitality resort project in the town of São Francisco, already officially submitted to the Government, valued at $1.5 billion, which includes a football academy.
He mentioned that with Cape Verde’s qualification for the World Cup, it is also necessary to work on the business aspect to match the level achieved in sports.
This businessman also mentioned another project for the city of Praia, aiming to project the capital to the highest level and take advantage of its strategic geographical position, a proposal that is also already in the hands of the Government.
In turn, the mayor of Santa Cruz, Carlos Silva, considered that the memorandum aims to create value and open doors for a group of investors interested in investing in the municipality and other municipalities on the island of Santiago.
According to the same source, taking into account the local potential, the investment should prioritize agribusiness, advocating a greater focus on national production and the consumption of local products, especially in the tourism sector.
“In Santa Cruz, our brand is the banana. We believe that Cape Verde should guarantee national products for tourism, and the banana can play that role,” he stressed.
Carlos Silva added that the memorandum will allow the development of a set of activities aimed at increasing the value creation of the municipality’s products and services.
He recalled that there is already “a significant list of interested investors” in various areas, reinforcing the importance of structuring partnerships that fully leverage the potential of Santa Cruz, the region, and the island of Santiago as a whole.
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