First Trip To Cabo Verde

Tip 1, browse the forum, look for CVAngelo, and try to contact him. No idea if he's still active here.

Tip 2, one week to visit three islands, AND investigate your options is rather optimistic. You will spend most of your time in planes, and on airports.

Tip 3, don't expect people to speak English. They speak Portuguese and Criollo. How good is your Portuguese?

Tip 4, avoid Sal if you want to apply for residency. Immigration officers there seem to be a big nuisance.

I'm just a simple tourist, visiting Santiago once or twice a year. My advice for you would be to visit Santiago and São Vicente. Spend like one week on each island, just to look around, as a tourist. After that you will at least have a better idea of the possibilities and challenges.

@petersjantje

Hi Peter. Great tips! And I'm still active here.

Angelo

Greetings all!I'm planning a trip to Cabo Verde in February 2027, for about a week. I would like to start a business there which would also benefit the local economy - making sustainable chocolate with local flavours.I've been advised to start up in Sal for its tourism market. On the other hand, being an artist who's drawn to Cabo Verde's art and culture, I'm drawn to Mindelo.- which is also a ferry ride away from agricultural-rich Santa Antão - where I can source local products for my ingredientsThen, I've been considering Praia, which, as the government headquarters might be the easiest city to file for residency.With only a week to do my excursion and investigate my options, can anyone recommend any helpful tips or suggestions?Thanks in advance! - @Lyrica Star

Hi Lyrica,

I see from your past posts that you've been planning this trip for a while now.Hopefully you can finally do it next February.

If you're looking to start a serious business that's not just a hobby but to support your lifestyle, you would either choose Sal or Santiago depending on your target market. If you are targeting tourists, the choice would be Sal as that is where 50-60% of all tourists go. Boavista is the alternative where 25-30% of tourists go. In your case of a business based on agriculture, I would not recommend Sal/Boavista as agriculture is limited. The other consideration is that the cost of living in Sal/Boavista is very high compared to the other islands.

If your agricultural-based products are aimed at the local population, your best choice is Santiago for a couple reasons: 1) half the local population resides on Santiago so you have easy access to a much larger and diverse market; 2) it is the biggest source of agricultural products. However, you would not locate in Praia, but rather in the rural zones of Tarrafal, Assomada or Santa Cruz in the Northern Santiago which is where most agriculture is based. In addition, the costs of a rental of a business location and the costs of living are much lower in the rural areas. And you can easily travel back and forth to Praia in the South via the Hiaces.

São Vicente/Santo Antão is another viable option. Keep in mind that rents in Mindelo are quite high becasue of lack of availability of space. And Santo Antão, which as you already know is the source of agriculture in that region, is lacking in proper infrastructure. In addition, Santo Anão is experiencing a net decline in population as most of the youth and labor are leaving the island due to lack of jobs. So locating a business there can be challenging. Since you are drawn to Mindelo, I would not discourage you from locating in that region, but you should go in with your eyes open.

Of course, as you had suggested yourself, you should spend time on the ground in Northern Santiago and São Vicente/Santo Antão so you can see and investigate for yourself before making any decisions. One week is not enough to do both locations. You may need to make two trips, one to investigate each.

Cheers,

Angelo

@petersjantje thanks. I should have clarified I plan on spending 1 week on 1 island only - but which one it best utilise my time👍🏾

@CVAngelo, thanks for your reply! Will definitely need to plan a second trip.

Kind regards🙂