CABOCAN - Article in the magazine "Iniciativa"

The large investment being input by CABOCAN represents a substantial benefit for the country in terms of job creation and income for public financing. In the context of economic development of Cabo Verde, the project of Ponta Preta surpasses all expectations exceeding in its originality, with the source of income that it provides the country and the installation of a hotel group and a tour operation of reference. This represents a turning point in the history of Cape Verde as a tourist destination. Situated in the ZDTI zone (Area of Integrated tourism development) in Santa María, the Ponta Preta project is promoted by CABOCAN, Ltd. which is a joint venture of a Cape-Verde and 3 Spanish companies with major experience in tourism and real estate in the Canary Islands. Ponta Preta is a privileged area with stunning beaches and 2 world famous surf locations. The planning includes a meticulous study of the impact to the environment that guarantees the investor compliance with all of the technical specifications.

Protected Area

The development is divided into 2 areas, North and South separated by a protected area reserved for the transit of the sand from the dunes and for the turtles laying their eggs. The distance from the sea to the front of plots of land is 120 m and all the coefficients of occupation/building are in accordance with the relevant laws. With a capacity of 10,000 beds the surface of the plots has an area between 990 m2 to 122,000 m2 for different uses. There is also a commercial and leisure area. To ensure the basic services CABOCAN has two companies that provide their know-how and financial backing. One of them is CASSA (Companyia d’aigües de Sabadell) that is dedicated to distribute fresh water to more than 40 areas in Spain. The other one is Hidrowatt specialized in water processing and renewable energies. In this project APP (Ponta Preta waters) is about to introduce a sustainable development model using the renewable resources of the island.

The largest hotel in the country

At the moment there are 2 existing hotels. Hotel Dunas de Sal with 100 beds and Hotel Riú Funaná with 1,000 beds. In order to access the quality and the basic services at the established prices by legislation, the Hotel Riú Funaná was built in only 20 months and started working before the time planned. The project has the following services: Production and distribution of fresh water. Treatment of waste water Recycling of used water for gardening through special piping Electricity production and distribution of small and medium tension. Public lighting Telephone lines Rubbish collection (in conjunction with the Municipal Chambers of Sal) With this project the government received important revenue from the selling of these 2 plots of land and also gave a large injection to the construction and tourism sectors and incremented the traffic of all the related activities such as airport, road transport, increasing employment directly to around 800 people and in one year more than 2000. Additional to this, the rest of the hotels, business and general population of Santa María receive the benefit from the access to desalinated water and treatment of waste water.

Perspectives

In April the works will start for the construction of the Ponta Preta residential building with 20 apartments and in the summertime the opening of a new medical centre. Designed to receive the German tourists and promoted by TUI tour operator, Hotel Funaná will implement a second phase with a projected 2,000 beds capacity. This phase will be finished by the end of 2006 In just a few months the construction of Hotel Sabura will commence with a capacity of 150 beds The extraordinary tourist potential that the Cape Verde islands have, due to its weather, diversity, political stability, geostrategic position, absence of illnesses and favourable social situation gives this country the chance of becoming one of the most important alternative tourist destinations of the Atlantic.