The Atlantic brings pirates in the same way that rum brings confessions. Those who cannot cope should stay away from the coast and its temptations.
Picture a 40-something European who, on a December morning on the Santa Maria beach, has just downed his fifth drink and is babbling in four languages (French, English, Flemish and Russian) about his grandiose, obscure and unverifiable plans to invest in Cabo Verde’s hotel sector. How is he any different to the buccaneers who fought to secure strongholds for London, Madrid and Lisbon on this dusty, wind-battered but crucial islands on the route to the Caribbean?
Some four and a half centuries of capitalism have passed since Sir Francis Drake’s attack on Ribeira Grande (now Cidade Velha, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” of Portuguese origin). The modern privateer would no doubt lean on a solid armada of lawyers and the legal framework provided by the trade and investment treaties that Cabo Verde has signed.
Incidentally, what does he have in common with this young French tech investor who placidly says: “My girlfriend and I said to ourselves that we had missed the wave of exponential growth in Asia. We have to do everything in our power to make sure we don’t miss out on the one coming to Africa.”?
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