Cape Verde has apparently “entered the big league” according to an article on international property portal TheMoveChannel.com.

It’s easy to dismiss the headline as PR fluff.  After all when you drill down into the definition of the “big league”, all it means is that Cape Verde accounted for 3% of enquiries on the MoveChannel.com’s network of sites, reaching the top ten for the first time.  Although TheMoveChannel’s portal network is arguably the largest in the market, 3% is a small number.

I’ve spoken to many industry people about the islands and the response often includes the words “unproven” and “speculative” and on one occasion “speck of sand in the middle of the ocean”.

However, three things are beginning chip away at my natural cynicism. 

Firstly Stuart Law, Chief Executive of Assetz, has invested personally in a project on the Boa Vista, the second largest island.  I understand that sales so far are not quite as expected but you would be foolish to bet against one of the most successful men in our industry.

Secondly, and perhaps more saliently, I have recently seen empirical evidence of strong rental demand.  Salineas Sea on the island of Sal has a contract with large tour operator guaranteeing at least 60% occupancy for 6 months when their new hotel opens this November.  This equates to 7.8% net yields on conservative price assumptions.

Finally, The Resort Group have also played their part by successfully completing and selling out the Tortuga Resort earlier this year.

The issue for anyone selling Cape Verde to the general public is that not many people have holidayed there and some have not even heard of the islands.

However, it does seem to have two essential ingredients you need to make money when investing in emerging markets: (relatively) cheap land prices and year-round rental seasons.

Dan Johnson, director of TheMoveChannel.com says that island has increased in popularity despite not receiving any more advertising money than other destinations.

“There hasn’t been any significant recent upsurge in marketing. The most plausible explanation is that Cape Verde has been around for a long time and has not disappeared.  It’s a got a bit of history now and buyers seem to be making up their own minds”.

Cape Verde is never going to be a Spain or a France but it may yet prove its doubters wrong.