Photos: Cape Verde music festival

In Cape Verde, music and musicians are so revered that a portrait of the country’s most legendary singer, Cesaria Evora, adorns the island’s second-highest-valued bill: 2,000 Cape Verdean escudos, or $20.

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

On this island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, professionals from Nigeria, Cape Verde, Portugal, Morocco and other countries, mainly from 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 the hope that the exhibition can help them take their music careers to the next level and ensure they can make a living from their art in an increasingly digital landscape.

Local stars like Joceline Medina, aka Josslyn, performed on one of three outdoor stages throughout the week. Nigerian blues musician Jessica Bongos performed for the first time outside of her home country. The Slovak band Varkocs got the crowd dancing on traditional Slavic acoustic instruments.

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

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