Photos: Cape Verde music festival

In Cape Verde, music and musicians are so highly revered that a portrait of the country’s most legendary singer, Cesaria Evora, appears on the island’s second highest bill: 2,000 Cape Verdean Escudos or 20 USD.

That spirit of music appreciation was on display at the country’s annual Atlantic Music Expo festival in April. Each year, around 120 industry insiders – from producers to festival directors and more – attend the festival in this city of 130,000 people.

On this island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, professionals from Nigeria, Cape Verde, Portugal, Morocco and other countries, mainly in Africa and Europe, gathered for the ninth annual edition of the festival from April 10 to 13.

Many of the artists are from West Africa and have come to Praia in hopes that the expo can take their musical careers to the next level and ensure they can make a living from their art in an increasingly digital landscape.

Local stars such as Joceline Medina, also known as Josslyn, performed on one of three outdoor stages throughout the week. Nigerian blues musician Jessica Bongos played outside her home country for the first time. The Slovak band Varkocs made the audience dance on traditional acoustic Slavic instruments.

AME executive August Veiga says the global popularity of genres like Afrobeats has brought more attention to music from the continent. “Now there is curiosity about what the African market has to offer,” he told Al Jazeera. “Because now the entrepreneurs see that they can earn money from African artists. Now they are interested. I think it can open doors.”

Ultimately, a focus on the African public by improving infrastructure and fostering partnerships across the continent would reduce costs but increase the number of events, he added. “We have a lot of festivals in Africa, but there’s no connection between them,” Veiga said.