What areas of business one can easily start ?

@emekaoraneche

Hello and welcome on board !

Thank you for your introduction.

I would strongly suggest that you create a topic of your own to seek advice from the members of the Cape Verde forum.

All the very best

Bhavna

Hi Emeka,

Good to hear that you are an entrepreneur. As a businessperson you will understand the perspective  I offer below.

Cape Verde is a tiny, poor country split into 10 islands. It essentially has two economies. One is based on tourism. We get over 800,000 tourists per year, mostly from Europe. These tourists have money to spend on tourism offerings and entertainment. Chceck TripAdvisor to see most of what is offered to tourists in Cape Verde. So if you start anything that doesn't already exist in this market and that is aimed at tourists, you could do very well. However, there are two constraints. Almost 85% of the tourists go to two islands, Sal and Boavista. So you would have to relocate on one of those islands But the cost of living on those islands is very high. Renting a two bedroon apartment is likely to be $400-500 at a minimum. Second, a good tourism business will require an investment of at least $50,000.

The other economy is the local economy on all of the other islands. Since the majority of the population is poor (average monthly wage is around $200), they don't have much disposable income to buy expensive items. So you need to think about the basics.Like food, clothing, transportation, etc. The market is dominated by cheap imports. It is hard to compete for the local buyer since the market is saturated by big import companies. As far as fashion is concerned, the majority of the local population buys imported used clothes that are sold on every corner by street local vendors, or cheap Chinese imports. Fashion accessories, hair products, makeup, etc, are always the cheap items that are imported from China, Brazil, India, Northern Africa, etc.

The biggest opportunities here (for the local market) are in maritime transport, construction, then food (fishing, agriculture whether imported or locally produced), and technology. The minimum investment required in these sectors is quite large. So these sectors are dominated by large, foreign companies.

One thing to be aware of - if you do not speak Portuguese, the official language, it will be very difficult to do business with the local population as they speak no English. However, some English is spoken in Sal and Boavista at the large hotels because most of the guests are English-speaking.

Cheers,

Angelo

    @JulienHello every one. My name is Emeka Charles from Nigeria. Am an entrepreneur based in Nigeria. I deal on fashion accessories and other sundry home items. I have a very young family that I wish to give a decent life. Hence, am considering the idea that CV will offer that. Am aren't coming to seek for job in CV rather, am coming to create job. So hopefully, this community will help me suggest areas of business one can easily start in CV. Thanks.        -@emekaoraneche

Hello everyone,

Please note that this new thread has been created from Emekaoraneche and CVAngelo posts on the Cape forum so that you may better communicate.

All the best

Bhavna