Waiters, builders and domestic workers struggle to find homes near their jobs in Praia

Those who build the city cannot afford to live in it

Renting a room near the hotels and the city centre costs around 12,000-15,000 CVE a month.

Long daily commutes

Many workers face journeys of an hour or more by hiace or shared taxi.

A mismatch worrying developers and business owners

Some companies are looking into rental assistance for their staff.

The other side of Praia's growth

Without affordable housing aimed at these workers, the problem is likely to worsen.

The real cost of living near the centre

On top of room rent, which runs to around 12,000 to 15,000 CVE a month, many workers also have to cover extra transport and food costs that squeeze an already tight salary even further, particularly among domestic and hospitality staff, whose pay barely clears the minimum wage. Unions in Praia's services sector say this combination of low pay and rising rents is pushing part of the workforce to quit their jobs in search of alternatives that demand less commuting.

The hiace minibuses as a gauge of the problem

The hiace minibuses and shared taxis connecting outlying neighbourhoods with central Praia have become an indirect indicator of this dynamic: drivers on these routes confirm that demand in the early hours, when cleaning and kitchen shifts begin at hotels and restaurants, has kept rising in recent years. Workers themselves describe days that stretch beyond twelve hours once commuting time is added, a burden many consider unsustainable in the long run.

Some businesses are starting to respond

Faced with growing difficulty retaining staff, several hotels and restaurants in Praia's tourist area are looking at ways to offer direct rental assistance or even set up their own staff accommodation, following the example of similar schemes in other tourist cities in the region. Business representatives acknowledge, however, that these are only partial fixes while there remains no sufficient supply of affordable housing across the city as a whole.

A challenge for Praia's urban planning

Municipal officials admit that Praia's growth as a hub for tourism and services has not been matched by equivalent planning for affordable housing, which largely explains the current mismatch between job supply and housing supply. Without concrete action, they warn, the city risks repeating the pattern seen in other capitals in the region, where the very people sustaining the tourism economy end up pushed out to the furthest edges of the city.