Abstract
In the pre and post-independence era, high levels of migration and the resulting remittances were responsible for circulating capital in the local markets of Cape Verde, a country nearly devoid of natural resources. Over the last two decades, stricter immigration policies in destination countries, in tandem with the importation of cheap labor from out of the country has dried up the capital inflow in the poor local markets. Travel, however, still seems to be a relevant economic solution for Cape Verde, albeit in a different form than it has historically been. Rather than exporting labor for the sake of remittances from overseas, Cape Verde has slowly begun to increase its desirability as a mainstay in the tourism market. By creating a steady flow of capital into the tourism industry, and returning the services relevant to this industry to local entrepreneurs in local markets, Cape Verde can reestablish the flow of capital from foreign economies which has historically driven their local money supply. This thesis discusses what the government has done to grow the economy. The Cape Verdean government has adopted neo liberalism as an approach to development. Cape Verde is procuring development aid from international institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the\r United States, and the European Union, which advocate free market policies that are based on the theory of neo-liberalism. This paper examines some of the neo-liberal policies that the government has embraced in order to industrialize the economy, create jobs, and to increase the standard of living.