Unesco provides property investment prospect

In 1456, the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde islands, some 375 miles off the Senegalese coast in the Atlantic. Having set foot where no human had ever gone before, they ensured that many more people would do so in the centuries that followed.

For much of this time, many discovering the islands would be doing so involuntarily as part of the slave trade, but times have changed. Nowadays the islands are no longer a Portuguese colony, having gained independence in 1975 and those arriving nowadays are mostly western tourists coming in by plane.

Some of those doing so will land at Praia, the modern capital of the country based on the island of Santiago. Given a choice of tourist destinations on the island, some may opt for the mountains in the interior, or head up to the beaches at Tarrafal on Santiago's northern tip. But others may look to Cidade Velha, where history was made in 1462.

It was there that the city was established by the Portuguese as the first capital city of the islands, remaining thus until 1770, Afrol.com noted recently, when the difficulty of defending the location against pirates prompted the move to Praia.

Yet the ruins of the old city have remained in good shape, so much so that they were recently nominated to become the country's first Unesco world heritage site. Today, at its 33rd annual congress in Seville, the United Nations body provided the words many Cape Verdeans will be delighted to hear: "Cidade Velha has been inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List, marking Cape Verde's entry to the international community's inventory of properties of outstanding universal value."

The statement went on to note that the site, which was originally named Ribeira Grande, "bears testimony to the history of Europe's colonial presence in Africa and to the history of slavery," while the town "features some of the original street layout [and] impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th century marble pillar."

All of this may make a major difference to the future of Santiago as a place for property investors, since the site could now enjoy a greatly heightened international profile.

Speaking about Cape Verde last month, managing director for Cape Verde Property Adrian Lillywhite remarked that the island with most of the tourism and property purchasing going on at present is Sal. Of Santiago he said: "Santiago Island hasn't got any direct flights from the UK yet, so at the moment it's probably not the main tourist site." To this he added that tourism on the islands is still "evolving".

But with the news from Unesco, it could be that this will now change. Santiago could just become a new market as the status of Cidade Velha takes the evolution of tourism in Cape Verde in a new direction.