Vinci Airports reiterates its commitment to the development of Cape Verde and airport modernization

Nikolas Notebaert, who is Chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of Vinci Concessions, gave this guarantee to the press, at the end of a meeting with the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, to present his strategic plan and vision for the modernization and dynamization of the country's airports for the next 40 years.

He stressed that the meeting with the head of state served, among other reasons, to thank, once again, the Cape Verdean authorities for the trust placed in Vinci Airports to manage the network of airports and airfields in Cape Verde, thus contributing to the process and country's development.

As he recalled, the concessionaire has already paid the first tranche of 35 million euros, according to the concession contract, informing that the second tranche of 45 million euros will be made within a few months.

Nikolas Notebaert listed a set of commitments that the Vinci group established as priorities that will be fulfilled during the management period, highlighting that the company wants to contribute to the promotion of social, environmental, economic and infrastructure safety areas.

“It is important to guarantee the runway system at the terminals, but also an environmental commitment, we will produce wind energy at Cape Verde airports, wind energy at Sal airport and solar energy at Boa Vista and Praia airports”, he said. .

Nikolas Notebaert also highlighted the company's commitment to ensuring the integration and training of employees at Cape Verde airports, who, he stressed, have managed the airport infrastructure very well and who, "evidently", will continue to work with Vinci Airports.

“We are very honored and proud to sign this contract. We are the world leader in infrastructure concessions and this is the first concession we have signed on the African continent. It is a great honor for us to start operating in Cape Verde, which is a country committed to the sustainable development of its population”, he declared.

The delegation received by the President of the Republic also includes the executive director of Cabo Verde Airports, Jorge Benchimol Duarte, the CEO of ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, José Luís Arnaut, the president of the Executive Committee of ANA, Thierry Ligonnière, and the Development director of Vinci Airports, Benoît Trochu.

The public airport service concession contract to the Vinci group, involving the management of four international airports and three airfields for 40 years, was signed in July last year.

With the entry into force of the concession contract, on the 24th of July last, Cabo Verde Airports started to take over the management of the country's airports and airfields, whereby, in return for granting the concession, this company must, according to the Contract, pay the State of Cape Verde an initial amount of 80 million euros, in two instalments.

Vinci Airports is the world's leading private airport operator, managing 72 airports in 13 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

In 2016, Vinci Airports became the first airport operator to commit to an international environmental strategy, setting the goal of halving its direct carbon footprint by 2030 and achieving zero direct net emissions across its entire fleet. network by 2050.