11th January 2007
Sambala celebrates completion of Phase One properties.
Sambala, the leading developer in up-and-coming overseas property hot-spot, Cape Verde, is celebrating this week following the news that it is the first developer to complete the construction of the first release of Phase One properties.
Sambala is the largest luxury resort developer on the most stunning of the islands, Santiago and still leads the way in the property market within the archipelago as the first environmentally sound project that adheres to a strict code of practice, both with respect to the social fabric and local ecosystem.
Construction began in 2005 and already much of the resort’s infrastructure, including desalination plant, irrigation system and road network, is complete.
Switched-on overseas property investors have already pounced on Sambala’s luxury homes, with the first phase of 450 freehold townhouses and apartments in Sambala Village having sold out within months of release.
The Phase Two villas and townhouses of Vivendas de Santiago and Sambala Village, which are also completely sold out, all enjoy superb views from the magnificent escarpment over the bay of San Francisco, where a sublime white-sand beach and a dramatic river-valley lie among the surrounding tropical landscape.
What makes Sambala different to other developers is the way in which it is vertically integrated in the properties and the developments all the way through to completion and beyond.
Investors in the area will find that Sambala makes their property work for them by guaranteeing investors five per cent of their purchase price for a minimum of five years as well as incurring the cost of housekeeping, all maintenance fees and marketing and administration.
25th May 2007
Ministerial Inaugural Ceremony for the Sambala Resort Desalination Plant, Sambala’s first RO (reverse osmosis) desalination plant was inaugurated today by Dr Manuel Inocêncio, the Cape Verdian Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and the Sea. The visit was also complemented by the presence of Dr Felisberto Vieira, the mayor of Praia and President of the Association of Santiago Municipalities and the Director of the Cape Verdean Institute for Roads.On cutting the tape the Minister expressed his delight in the fact that Sambala had achieved so much in the year. He re-emphasised the Government’s commitment to assisting foreign investment and stated that for Cape Verde Sambala was a symbol of the type of investment transforming both the country and the lives of ordinary Cape Verdeans. The desalinated water was sampled by the party and a toast was made to Sambala with the water reported to be of excellent purity and quality.
During the ceremony Sambala stated that the project has a strong social component and pointed out that the works currently in progress employs almost 100% of the population of Vale da Custa. The desalination plant will have a great impact in improving the living conditions of the residents of both villages of Vale da Custa and São Francisco and has already been linked to the local network ready for supply. At this moment it produces 1,000 m3 of water (1 million litres) per day but is designed to allow for an increased capacity of 6,000 m3 for the following phases of the project.
Sambala will also be building social housing for the families of Vale da Custa.
The building of these social houses should begin next year with a survey of the village already having been carried out. This has been undertaken with a view to elaborating the project for the new village which will include amongst other things a new school and health centre all built by Sambala.
Following the inauguration of the desalination plant the Minister visited the Sambala Village site, now entering into its final phase of construction. He demonstrated that he was extremely satisfied with the progress that has been made. Manuel Inocêncio highlighted the importance of the project for the economy of the island of Santiago and of Cape Verde and promised the continuation of full governmental support in creating the conditions, starting with the access road to the Sambala Resort.
The Minister announced that now the Praia ring road is almost complete they will soon begin work on the road linking the Sambala resort to the capital. In a formal speech for local television the Minister also announced the commencement in August of work on the new road linking Praia’s international airport to Sambala resort. According to the Minister, the tarmac road will take 9 months to complete.
6th June 2007
The Sambala Village resort, on the Cape Verdean island of Santiago, is expected to be operating in Spring 2008, the resort’s marketing director, Jim Campbell told Macauhub Monday.
The resort’s owner, the São Francisco Development Company of Cape Verde, owned by Anglo-Norwegian magnate Daniel Grepne, who bought the land on which the resort is being built in the 1960s, has already invested over 20 million euros in its construction. The resort, with an area of 20 square kilometers located in the southeast of Santiago island, six kilometers from the capital, is being built in stages and the first, with 382 apartments in nine residential blocks and 68 houses, has already been concluded.The second stage, which is under construction, will include 41 villas and 195 houses, which will also be located next to Sao Francisco beach, which is 800 meters wide.
Campbell said that, in the third stage of the project, which is expected to be totally concluded by 2010, only villas would be built. Campbell also said that three hotels would be built in the resort and negotiations were currently underway with parties potentially interested in managing them.
Sambala Village, work on which began in June 2005, is selling one bedroom apartments from the first stage at 58,000 euros and three bedroom houses at 127,000 euros. Campbell also said that the final investment figure for Sambala Village, when the five stages of building were over, including a golf course and marina, could be over 100 million euros.
The resort will be the largest employer on Santiago Island once it is concluded, with over 800 workers. At the moment 450 Cape Verdean workers work at Sambala Village and 20 British workers. The resort has just opened a desalination plant, with an initial capacity of one million liters of drinking water per day, at a total investment of 8 million euros.
The desalination plant also provide drinking water to around 1,000 people living in the towns of Vale de Custa and Sao Francisco.
April 2008
Sambala announce Golf Designer - An Australian Golf Designer has been appointed to design the golf course at Porto Lobo and preliminary plans have been drawn up.
July 2008
Construction began last month on the road that will connect central Praia to the nearby village and future tourist resort of São Francisco, with work expected to be completed by April of next year. The new two-lane asphalted road will have a total length of 6.2 kilometers and is budgeted at 480 million escudos. The work site will be visited today by Prime Minister José Maria Neves. |
Arlindo do Rosário of the Highway Institute, which is responsible for the construction of the road, explained that the Praia-São Francisco project is “part of the government’s commitment to all of the tourist enterprises built and projected for the zone. The road begins at the Pedreira roundabout and will end at São Francisco beach, next to the King Fisher lodge. After that, the tourist enterprises will be responsible for the secondary roads connecting them to the main road,” he clarified.
Local residents see the new road as an end to the relative isolation of a region very close to Praia, but which until now has had only a poorly maintained, narrow and pothole-filled road leading to it, making the transportation of passengers and goods somewhat frustrating. |
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