Berlin, 2 February 2024

First hub for social innovation and local entrepreneurship empowerment in Cape Verde: TUI Care Foundation inaugurates the Futureshaper House

  • Co-creation space in Sal empowers local community members to turn social and environmental challenges into entrepreneurial opportunities
  • TUI Futureshaper House provides facilities for training, co-work and cultural events for local young people and entrepreneurs as well as NGOs
  • Inauguration by Carlos Santo, Minister of Tourism of Cape Verde; Thomas Ellerbeck, Chairman of the Board of the TUI Care Foundation; and Alexander Panczuk, Executive Director of the TUI Care Foundation

Tourism has developed into the main driver of employment and growth in Cape Verde. The sector has opened up enormous perspectives and life chances for many people, particularly on the island of Sal. To enable the local communities in Cape Verde to turn social and environmental challenges into entrepreneurial opportunities, the TUI Care Foundation has set up its first TUI Futureshaper House. This free-access hub provides young people, entrepreneurs, creatives and local NGOs a free space for co-working, co-creating and networking. The TUI Futureshaper House will also be the hub for the Foundation’s training and development programmes on Cape Verde, which will provide mentoring and technical support to a variety of stakeholders on the island.

The TUI Futureshaper House is co-managed with local social impact agency GoHub. It was officially inaugurated by the Minister of Tourism and Transport for Cape Verde, Mr. Carlos Santos, and the Executive Director of TUI Care Foundation, Alexander Panczuk.

In his inauguration speech Mr Carlos Santos, Minister of Tourism and Transport of Cape Verde, said: "We see the TUI Care Foundation as a development partner for the country. We have identified a number of challenges and set specific objectives in terms of economic, environmental and social sustainability. This space is a first reflection of our joint plans. Other projects have been developed, such as the TUI Academy. All of this builds on the premise that we can only have touristic development if we do this in a sustainable way. This reflects the vision that our government has for tourism – of developing it in a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable way.”

Thomas Ellerbeck, Chairman of the Board of the TUI Care Foundation: “The Futureshaper House is meant to become a place for all people from Cape Verde who have the ideas and the motivation to shape a better future. A place that will help to bring positive impact ideas to life, a place of exchange and creativity. In particular we hope the TUI Futureshaper House will open up new perspectives especially for the young generation of Cabo Verdeans.”

The first programme hosted at the TUI Futureshaper House is the Morabeza Social Innovation Academy, which was created by two young leaders from Cape Verde. It provides personal development and purpose-discovery training, as well as life coaching to 100 individuals. The programme promotes personal and professional growth and equips the participants with the skills to run their own social or environmental enterprises. The enterprises are expected to become financially self-sufficient within the first three years of implementation, ensuring the sustainability of the project's outcomes.

Morabeza Social Innovation Academy will be followed by a capacity-building programme in spring 2024 for local NGOs that will strengthen the island’s third sector.

The TUI Futureshaper House is a part of the global TUI Futureshapers Programme which is being rolled out for example in Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia.

About TUI Care Foundation

Building on the potential of tourism as a force for good, the TUI Care Foundation supports and initiates partnerships and projects, which create new opportunities for the young generation and contribute to thriving communities all over the world. Connecting holidaymakers to good causes, the TUI Care Foundation fosters education and training initiatives to open up new opportunities and perspectives for young people, the protection of the natural environment in holiday destinations and sustainable livelihoods in thriving destinations where local communities can benefit even more from tourism. TUI Care Foundation works global and acts local – it builds on strong partnerships with local and international organisations to create meaningful and long lasting impact. The charitable foundation values transparency and the efficient use of funds. Therefore 100% of the donations go to destination programmes with all administration costs of the foundation covered by TUI. TUI Care Foundation was founded by TUI, the world’s leading tourism business, and is based in the Netherlands.

About GoHub

GoHub is a social impact agency providing strategic consultancy and implementation support to NGOs, businesses and start-ups seeking to build capacity, diversify and grow in Cabo Verde. It established the only workspaces on Sal and Boa Vista as well as Cabo Verde’s workspace platform – coworkcaboverde.com. GoHub was founded by tech education charity CEO Ed Cervantes-Watson who relocated with his family from London to Boa Vista in 2020.