The Dispersed Nation: Cape Verde and the Challenge of Emigration

Cape Verde faces a unique reality: half of its population lives outside the country. This is not a temporary crisis, but a permanent characteristic of Cape Verdean society that profoundly shapes its economy and development.

The Magnitude of the Diaspora

The numbers reveal the scale of the phenomenon:

Resident population:Approximately 550,000 to 560,000 people live on the islands of Cape Verde.

Diaspora population:It is estimated to beoh wellof the resident population — more than one million Cape Verdeans live abroad.

Main destinations:The United States (approximately 265,000 people), Portugal (approximately 80,000 people), and significant communities in the Netherlands and other European and African countries.

Current emigration rate:Approximately 1% of the population leaves the country permanently every year. This rate is almost double the average observed in other small island developing states.

The Historical Roots of Emigration

Emigration is not a recent phenomenon in Cape Verde. It has deep roots that go back centuries:

Historical causes:Recurring droughts, famines, unemployment, and a lack of economic opportunities have forced generations of Cape Verdeans to seek a better life abroad.

Cultural strategy:Emigration has become deeply ingrained in society as a legitimate and even expected strategy for family and personal success. It is not seen as abandonment, but as a necessity and an aspiration.

Persistence:Even after independence in 1975 and subsequent economic progress, emigration continues at high rates.

Brain Drain: The Negative Side

Continuous emigration creates a serious problem for the country's development: the constant loss of skilled people precisely when the country needs them most.

Shortage of Specialized Skills

Critical sectors affected:The country faces an acute shortage of skilled workers in high-potential emerging sectors:

• Information and communication technologies (ICT)

• Blue economy (modern fisheries, aquaculture)

• Renewable energies

• Specialized tourism

Problem scope:More than a quarter of companies in Cape Verde report that a lack of workforce skills is a significant limitation—a much higher proportion than the sub-Saharan African average.

The Educational Paradox

Cape Verde has invested significantly in education. University expansion has been rapid. However:

Investment without return:The country educates people who then emigrate, taking with them the public investment in their education.

Perverse cycle:Organizations that successfully attract and train local talent often see these professionals leverage that prestige to secure jobs and educational opportunities abroad.

High youth unemployment:Paradoxically, Cape Verde is experiencing both brain drain and high youth unemployment (23.9% in 2023, especially in urban centers like Praia and Mindelo).

Structural Misalignment

This seemingly contradictory situation — a lack of skills and simultaneous youth unemployment — reveals a fundamental problem:

Mismatch between training and the job market:The skills that young Cape Verdeans often acquire do not match the job opportunities available in the small domestic market.

Aspirations vs. reality:Educated young people aspire to careers and salaries that the Cape Verdean market, limited by its size, cannot offer in sufficient numbers.

Individual rational solution:For a qualified professional, emigrating to Portugal, the United States, or another larger market offers salaries many times higher and career opportunities that simply do not exist in an economy of half a million inhabitants.

The Positive Side: The Diaspora as an Economic Pillar

Despite the loss of human capital, the Cape Verdean diaspora plays a crucial role in the country's economy. In many ways, the economy only functions because the diaspora sustains it.

Massive Financial Contributions

Shipments:In 2022, Cape Verdeans living abroad sent home:

• US$ 290 million

• Equivalent to12% do PIB(some sources indicate 12.7%)

• 64% of these transfers came from the Eurozone.

Context:Remittances represent a significantly larger percentage of GDP in Cape Verde than in most comparable countries.

Emigrant detention centers:A 1995 law allowed for special deposits for emigrants. The results were impressive:

• Significant growth between 1996 and 2010

• At the end of 2011, emigrant deposits constituted48.5% to M2(cash in circulation plus term deposits) in the banking system

• These deposits keep the banking system liquid.

Direct investments:In addition to traditional remittances, emigrants invest in:

• Housing and construction

• Office spaces

• Inter-island transport

• Telecommunications

Potential venture capital:The diaspora represents immense potential as a source of venture capital to stimulate local entrepreneurship, especially in technology.

Knowledge and Technical Skills

The diaspora doesn't just send money—it sends knowledge.

"Human shipments":The diaspora contributes technical skills, specialized knowledge, capacity building, and technology transfer.

Strategic planning:Specialized professionals from the diaspora are specifically considered in high-level planning. For example, the management model for the future National Hospital explicitly provides for the involvement of diaspora specialists.

Return of professionals:There is a recent and notable trend of "brain drain" — reverse migration:

• Professionals from the diaspora returning

• Young graduates returning to start businesses.

• Attraction to economic growth and new opportunities

The Diaspora as a Market

Nostalgia market:The emigrant population constitutes a significant niche market for Cape Verdean exports — the so-called "products of the land" (land products).

Diaspora tourism:Cape Verdeans living abroad regularly visit the islands:

• They spend considerably more money locally than the average international tourist.

• They represent a vital segment of tourism.

• The government launched specific programs for this group, including theRemote Work Programaimed at digital nomads, particularly from Europe and North America.

The Structural Dilemma

Cape Verde faces a complex situation with no obvious solutions:

Economic dependence:The economy is structurally dependent on remittances from the diaspora. Without these financial flows—which represent 12% of GDP—the country would face a balance of payments crisis.

Continuous loss of talent:At the same time, the country continues to lose precisely the skilled people it needs to diversify the economy beyond tourism and reduce its dependence on remittances.

Market too small:The domestic market of 560,000 people cannot offer the career opportunities, salaries, or business scale that larger markets offer. This reality will not change with reforms or policies.

Vicious circle:Emigration reduces the domestic market, which limits opportunities, which in turn encourages further emigration.

Strategic Sectors Affected

The lack of specialized skills directly affects the sectors that the government has identified as priorities for economic diversification:

Information technologies:The goal of transforming Cape Verde into a regional technology hub faces an acute shortage of programmers, software engineers, and ICT specialists.Technology Parkin Praia and theSpecial Technological Economic Zone (ZEET)They were created to attract international companies and talent from the diaspora, but the local skills base remains insufficient.

Renewable energies:The goal of achieving 54% renewable electricity by 2030 requires specialized engineers, technicians, and project managers—skills that are scarce in the local market.

Blue economy:Modernizing fisheries, developing aquaculture, and creating specialized maritime services requires technical knowledge that the country has difficulty retaining.

Quality tourism:Improving tourism standards requires substantial staff training. Senior management positions currently rely on expatriate managers because there is a shortage of experienced local staff.

The Reality of Numbers

To understand the scale of the challenge, consider this comparison:

Annual flow:Approximately 1% of the population (5,500-6,000 people) emigrate permanently every year.

Educational comparison:If we assume that many emigrants have secondary or higher education, this annual loss could represent a significant proportion of Cape Verdean university graduates each year.

Replacement impossible:In a country with 560,000 inhabitants, constantly replacing thousands of skilled workers who emigrate is mathematically difficult, especially when the education system has limited capacity to train specialists in advanced technical fields.

A Nation Divided Between Two Geographies

Cape Verde has effectively become a nation divided between two geographical areas:

The resident nation:560,000 people on the islands, facing the limitations of a small market, limited resources, and high costs.

The nation is scattered:Over one million Cape Verdeans live abroad, earning income in larger economies, sending remittances home, investing in property, and visiting regularly.

Interdependence:The two parts of the nation are deeply interdependent. The economy on the islands depends on the financial flows from the diaspora. The diaspora maintains emotional, cultural, and economic ties with the islands.

Imbalance:However, the flow is asymmetrical. The diaspora can sustain the economy through remittances, but it cannot solve the local lack of specialized skills simply by sending money.