Ships that never end are coming

One day after the Mayor of Brava, Amândio Brito, expressed his indignation at the isolation of the island of Flores, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament this Wednesday, the 12th, that the government is going to acquire a boat for the connections to and from the island of Brava.

The tender for the acquisition of a boat built from scratch has already been awarded, and another boat is in the process of being acquired to increase the fleet.

"The tender for the acquisition of a boat built from scratch has already been awarded, another boat is in the process of being acquired to increase the fleet, and the island of Brava will be provided with a boat for the dedicated Brava/Fogo/Brava connection," said Ulisses Coreia e Silva during the parliamentary debate on the government's proposal for the State Budget in 2026.

A history of broken promises

When Abraão Vicente, the defeated candidate for Praia City Council, was Minister of the Sea in 2023, it was announced that World Bank funding worth 15 million dollars had been secured to buy two ships that would arrive in Cape Verde at the end of that year, half of a batch of four vessels to guarantee inter-island maritime connections.

As we know, the two ships never arrived and the other two were never heard from again, while last April the government announced that it would launch an international public tender for the construction of a ship to make the inter-island connections, also with funding guaranteed by the World Bank to the value of 25.3 million euros.

And it's likely that, between repeated promises and more recent guarantees, the accuracy of the accounting will be lost. In any case, it's not one, not two, not three, the boats that are coming, they're more than that.

On the other hand, in August of this year, CV Interilhas, celebrating the end of the legal dispute with the government, which was favorable to it, guaranteed that it would use the reimbursement to invest 19 million euros in the "sustainable development" of the sector and internal connections.

Clearly, of all the promises, none of them will come true in time for Cape Verdeans' Christmas presents this year. It's all for 2026, the year the country goes to the polls.

It's only millions

The Prime Minister also reiterated the acquisition of two more ATRs for TACV and said that the government would invest 70.6 million euros in international airports and aerodromes in the first stage and a further 118 million euros over three years.

Also according to Ulisses Correia e Silva, the government will modernize the passenger terminal and put up new signage at the Aeródromo do Fogo, in São Filipe, as well as expanding the terminals at the airports in Praia, São Vicente and Boa Vista.

With regard to the maritime sector, the government has also shown itself to be a hands-off player: the port of Porto Novo will accommodate large ships and will expand Porto Grande, in São Vicente, for transhipment operations. All this in 2026.

Rehabilitating and modernizing Cabnave, in Mindelo, the second phase of expanding the Port of Palmeira, on the island of Sal, and modernizing the Port of São Nicolau, in Tarrafal, are also in the government's plans, along with a cruise terminal on the island of Fogo.

Santiago Magazine