Cape VerdeTravel Cabo Verde Airports Win €120m Loan to Boost Island Flight Connections
IFC has announced a second €120 million sustainability-linked loan to Cabo Verde Airports S.A. to modernise the country's aviation network. Fewer than 2 percent of international passengers currently connect to domestic flights.
Cabo Verde's airport network is in line for further modernisation after the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced a second €120 million sustainability-linked loan to Cabo Verde Airports S.A. (CVA), the VINCI Airports subsidiary that runs the country's airports. The investment is intended to strengthen connectivity across the archipelago, where fewer than 2 percent of international passengers currently transfer to domestic flights.
Key facts
- IFC announced the second €120 million sustainability-linked loan to CVA this year
- An earlier package covers renovation and expansion of four international and three domestic airports across seven islands
- CVA operates the network under a 40-year concession
- Fewer than 2 percent of international passengers connect to domestic flights
- In 2025 Cabo Verde welcomed around 1.25 million international visitors and 6.1 million overnight stays
What is being funded?
IFC finances and mobilises private capital in transport and hospitality infrastructure in Cabo Verde. Its latest loan to CVA follows an earlier package covering the renovation and expansion of four international and three domestic airports on seven islands.
The World Bank helped the government establish the conditions that attracted CVA to operate the network, including investments in roads, piers and jetties and support for planning and developing tourism attractions across multiple islands. Since 2016 the World Bank has also supported tourism planning, adventure and cultural tourism products, the investment climate, and social and basic infrastructure.
Why does air connectivity matter?
Tourism is the main driver of Cabo Verde's economy: the sector generates more than a quarter of gross domestic product and supports about 40 percent of formal jobs, while growth reached 6.3 percent, driven largely by tourism and related services. Yet visitor activity remains concentrated in Sal and Boa Vista, where all-inclusive resorts are major employers but spending outside resort properties is limited.
Because the islands produce few goods, hotels and resorts import about 80 percent of their food and beverages, although many source locally where they can. IFC and World Bank investments aim to generate more local value by strengthening domestic supply chains, encouraging longer and more varied stays, and helping Cabo Verdean businesses, farmers and workers take part in the visitor economy.
Where is change already visible?
Tarrafal, on Santiago Island, is one example cited. Maurícia Vaz, a restaurant owner and guest house operator there, said improved infrastructure, more flights and more affordable fares meant "Tarrafal has opened up to the world" and had transformed her business.
What this means for travellers
The airport works and the push for more reliable, affordable inter-island transport are meant to give visitors reasons to travel beyond the main resorts and islands. Travellers considering a multi-island trip should note that the source gives no completion dates, new routes or flight schedules — only the scale of the network being upgraded: four international and three domestic airports across seven islands.
No timetable for the modernisation works has been announced. Cabo Verde made its first appearance at the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and the country is now working to turn that global attention into wider tourism and economic opportunity.