Cape Verde is a poor country in Africa. The country exports almost nothing so the economy depends heavily on foreign aid, foreign remittances from the diaspora, foreign government concessions and foreign investors. So there are not that many jobs being created. In fact, there is a high unemployment rate among the local university graduates because there a no jobs into which they can be absorbed.

Furthermore, the official language is Portuguese and if you cannot speak the language, you will not be able to perform the requirements of the job, even if one were available.

Yet, the tourism sector is the fastest growing sector of the economy and generates 25% of the GDP. 80% of the tourists, or about 600,000 annually, holiday on the islands of Sal and Boavista. And the majority of the tourists are English speakers. So interestingly, most of the jobs being created in Cape Verde are in the tourism sector on those two islands (total local population 30,000) and they are being generated by the European investors who are starting all the businesses there to serve the hordes of tourists.

So you can indeed readily find a job in Sal (where 50% of the tourists go) provided you would be willing to work in the tourism sector. Also, the employers naturally prefer to have employees who can speak English (does not even have to be fluently) as most of the customers speak English.

If you'd like to know more about how to land a job in Cape Verde, you can request this e-Guide and get more details. But what would be even better if you would be relocating to Cape Verde is to consider starting your own business in Cape Verde as it can be very lucrative and you will have much more flexibility than if you were an employee.

Unfortunately, the job and employment information services in Cape Verde are completely underdeveloped. Job openings are not posted except government jobs in the local newspaper, but there are no employment agencies, no job websites, nothing. You have to actually be present in Cape Verde and walk around and stop into the businesses you see to find a job. Or you have to tap into your social networks to ask if anyone has heard about openings. Other than the Guide, there is no formal source of information on jobs.

Angelo