Praia, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - The Cabo Verdean government has published the development plan for the Little Africa Maio real estate and tourism project, which aims to align investors with sustainable development, according to the document, consulted on Wednesday by Lusa.
Announced in 2020 as Cabo Verde's largest tourist development, worth around €500 million, to be located on Maio Island, the closest to the capital and part of the World Biosphere Reserve Network, the area is still waiting for investors.
The general principles of the Maio III Detailed Management Plan, published in Tuesday's Official Government Gazette, include the objective of "increasing the social, environmental and economic value of the Little Africa Maio real estate and tourism development", an area of 342 hectares.
The plan envisages two functional zones "that complement each other" and allow for "the organisation of large events", an area of public facilities, services and residential areas and an area of four hotels, along the coastline, with a greater concentration of accommodation units.
The idea includes a "modular hotel system", which starts from a standard unit of four suites, with various possible combinations until it forms a block or a "super block, corresponding to 256 suites," and "four super blocks correspond to 928 suites that make up the hotel".
Wide avenues, parks and green areas, mini golf courses, pedestrian zones, are all on the map that accompanies the plan, a document with 139 articles and several annexes that define everything from general principles to street lighting tones in order to "align urban development with the principles of UN-Habitat [United Nations Human Settlements Programme] in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)".
The plan also includes museums, conference and exhibition centres, theatres, a casino, shops, a state-of-the-art hospital, an international school and housing for professionals and workers.
The aim is to "foster job opportunities, safe and comfortable housing, resilient societies, transport and high-quality green spaces".
The island of Maio, Cabo Verde, has long white sandy beaches, is part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and is the closest island to the capital, Praia, on the island of Santiago - less than two hours away by public ferry.
The creation of jobs to retain the population has been a concern voiced by the island's municipality, which is witnessing an outflow of its residents, currently totalling around 6,400 people.
In 2022, the government approved the Maio Island Special Economic Zone (ZEEIM) to support the Little Africa Maio project, with the ambition of creating 4,000 jobs, at least according to the plans on paper.
Work on the ground has been awaited since 2020, but according to the Cabo Verdean authorities, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have delayed European and African investors from drawing up plans.
LFO/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
