Cabo Verde’s prime minister has labelled David Chow’s multi-million-dollar gaming investment in the African archipelago as “untenable”’.
Ulisses Correia e Silva confirmed news reports that the government sent a message to Chow’s company, Macau Legend Development, asking for a clarification of his investment intentions on a resort and casino in the islet of Santa Maria, in Cabo Verde’s capital.
“The works have to be completed. There is an agreement, a contract, an established undertaking, there is a concession and we cannot continue with the current situation. The businessman, the investor, has already been contacted and we hope there is an answer so we can get out of this stalemate,” Correia said.
Correia confirmed that Chow had asked for multiple extensions to complete the project and that they were granted, particularly taking into account the pandemic and other situations, but that the government is now waiting for a definitive answer regarding the continuity of the project.
The government also issued a statement saying that it “has always had as its central objective to encourage and boost private investment”, which is why in 2017 it signed an agreement with Macau Legend with a view to the implementation of the project, budgeted at around US$250 million.
The project consisted of the redevelopment of the whole of Gamboa beach, as well as the construction and operation of a casino hotel, a marina and support infrastructure for sailing, and a multipurpose conference centre, among other infrastructure.
To date, a building with eight floors and a link connecting Santiago bridge to Santa Maria islet have been built, the government said.
In view of the evolution of the “national business environment”, the government agreed in 2019 to a proposal to carry out the Macau Legend project in phases, the first of which was to have been completed by February 2021.
More than three years after the signing of this addendum to the agreement, “the first stage has not been completed”, leading Cabo Verde TradeInvest (CVTI), the entity responsible for monitoring the project for the government, to request information on the schedule of project execution in September 2022, and demonstration of the financial capacity for the completion of the project.
Last October, Macau Legend requested a three-month deadline to be able to respond to the request, justifying the delays with the effects of the pandemic and conflict with Ukraine.
CVTI later agreed to give until the end of 2022 for Macau Legend to provide information, which has not been done so far.
On 18 January, CVTI sent a new letter to Macau Legend, recalling the deadline granted. If answers are not submitted by the agreed time, the promoter faces “a penalty of triggering the legal and conventional mechanisms provided for in the various legal instruments” in the bilateral agreements, the government said.
At the end of January, the local newspaper Nação reported that David Chow has abandoned his post as Cabo Verde’s honorary consul in Macao, a position he held since 2001.
The decision, according to the newspaper, was taken because Chow considered that the government in Cabo Verde is neglecting his investments in the country.
