Two Portuguese investors plough EUR 950m into Cape Verde

Two Portuguese real estate companies, Design Resorts and Sacramento Campos, are planning to invest a combined EUR 950 mln in the construction of tourist resorts on the island of Santiago in Cape Verde. Design Resorts' Francisco Mendonça told Portuguese news agency Lusa that the company will start construction of its Ponta Bicuda resort in November and completion for the project is planned for 2009. Sale of the resort had begun at the end of last year, with a specific focus on the British market, he added. Other possible markets will be Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Total investment at Ponta Bicuda is estimated at EUR 200 mln, including six hotel units and three residential areas, as well as leisure, services and retail areas. Ponta Bicuda, located close to the new international airport, is a luxury resort covering an area of 65 hectares and four kilometres of coastline. It is currently being promoted by Vilas Oceanicas, led by José António Teixeira, a former partner of the country's largest real estate company Tecnicil.

Separately, the group Sacramento Campos is currently building the ambitious Santiago Golf Resort development. The project, involving an investment of EUR 750 mln over the next seven years, will include hotels, golf courses, as well as 230 tourist units, said Carlos Almeida, one of the group's directors. The second phase of the Santiago Golf Resort will be launched before the end of April.

Another major project in the island is being developed by the British family Grepne and its construction company, SFD, in the Sao Francisco bay. With completion scheduled in 2025, the resort will involve an investment of EUR 630 mln.