In July 2025, the World Bank upgraded Cabo Verde to upper-middle-income status. Most CEOs still think it is a tiny island with nothing but beaches.

This is not a small detail.

Upper-middle-income status is the category that includes countries like Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and China.

Cabo Verde — a small Atlantic archipelago of half a million people — just crossed that threshold. The World Bank elevated it in July 2025.

What got it there:

→ GDP growth of 7.3% in 2024 — one of the highest rates in West Africa

→ Inflation at 1% — its lowest level in recent history

→ Public debt declining from 144% of GDP in 2021 to 107.7% in 2024

→ Current account balance turning positive in 2024 for the first time in years

→ Construction activity surging 17% in Q3 2025, driven by infrastructure investment

This is not a tourism bubble. The Q3 2025 GDP growth was led by manufacturing (up 15% year on year) and construction — not hotels.

Now here is the strategic angle for a UK CEO:

Cabo Verde has a 40-year concession for airport management recently awarded to a private operator. It is privatising 9 state-owned enterprises by 2026. It is opening special economic zones. It pegs its currency to the euro — removing currency risk for companies operating across the EU and UK. Its government is digitalising 62% of public services by 2026 and actively seeks to export its e-government platforms to neighbouring African countries.

Cabo Verde wants to be a regional financial hub by 2035.

That is a 10-year strategy with a government committed to making it happen.

Which sector of your business could benefit from a stable, growing, euro-pegged market with direct air connections to the UK and a government actively courting private investment?

#CaboVerde #AfricaBusiness #MarketEntry #UKAfrica #WestAfrica