CAPE VERDE · WEST AFRICA

Cape Verde neighbours are close on the map but modest in the ledger. This guide explains who they are, how the relationships work and where the island nation leads or follows.

Cape Verde is an Atlantic archipelago off the West African coast, with a population of 491,233 at the 2021 census. We cover borders, regional bodies, trade, migration, sea links and security, with figures dated as of 2 November 2026.

A freight train and travellers loading goods at Choum, northern Mauritania. File photo. Photo: Ben Kawam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An Island Nation With Only Sea Neighbours

Cape Verde has no land borders, so its neighbours are reached by water or air. There are also no shared rivers, which removes the dam and basin disputes common elsewhere in West Africa.

The “shared infrastructure” story is therefore about ships, flights and maritime boundaries. Those links are thin today, and governments are still trying to strengthen them.

The sea boundaries are settled on paper. Cape Verde signed a delimitation treaty with Senegal on 17 February 1993, and it also has a treaty with Mauritania that includes a tripoint with Senegal.

The research reviewed found no documented dispute between Cape Verde and any neighbour. The date and text of the Mauritania treaty could not be confirmed, so we do not describe its terms.

ECOWAS: The Regional Home

ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, is the main regional body. Cape Verde joined in 1977, and it is a party to the bloc’s free-movement protocol, according to a secondary source.

Senegal now holds both top ECOWAS posts. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected chair of the Authority on 19 July 2026 at the 69th Ordinary Session in Sierra Leone, succeeding Julius Maada Bio.

General Birame Diop, a former Senegalese armed forces minister, was named Commission president for 2026 to 2030, succeeding Dr Omar Alieu Touray. He was due to take office in September 2026, though we could not confirm that he has started.

What Cape Verde Hosts and Pays

In January 2025 ECOWAS and Cape Verde’s ambassador, Belarmino Monteiro Silva, discussed the Community Levy, the 2026 elections and regional security. They also covered the ECOWAS Early Warning Centre in Praia and a pilot phase of a Praia, Dakar and Banjul sea link.

We could not read the communiqué of the July 2026 summit. We therefore cannot say what it decided about Cape Verde.

Aerial view of Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital, with a palm grove at the centre. File photo, 2017. Photo: Laminesall96, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Senegal: The Closest Partner

Senegal is the neighbour with the deepest ties. A Senegalese community lives in Cape Verde, and a Cape Verdean community lives in Senegal.

President José Maria Neves and President Faye met in Dakar on 16 July 2025, according to Le Soleil, a Senegalese daily. They stressed historical ties and shared political stability, and pledged to strengthen ECOWAS.

Le Soleil described the two countries as “two bastions of stability” for the bloc. Faye also attended the celebrations of Cape Verde’s 50th independence anniversary.

The two leaders announced the reactivation of a joint committee on the Dakar to Praia sea line, per Senego, a Senegalese news site. Cape Verde’s government changed in June 2026, and we found no reporting yet on its own stance towards Dakar.

Guinea-Bissau: The Sensitive Neighbour

Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau share the liberation legacy of Amílcar Cabral. That history makes Bissau politics a delicate subject in Praia.

A coup on 26 November 2025 led ECOWAS, the African Union and the CPLP (the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries) to suspend Guinea-Bissau. We could not confirm a current date for elections there.

RTP, the Portuguese public broadcaster, reported that Neves said Cape Verde stayed out of direct mediation for historical reasons and preferred to work through ECOWAS. That article is undated and may refer to an earlier crisis, so it should not be read as a comment on the 2025 coup.

Guinea-Bissau is also the largest source of foreign residents in Cape Verde. That adds a human link to the political one.

Trade and Sea Links: Europe First

Trade with West Africa is marginal next to Europe. This is the key point for any investor weighing a Cape Verde base for regional business.

In that same quarter Portugal supplied about 50% of imports, or 12.6 billion CVE, and the eurozone 68.1%.Sea links are the hoped-for fix.The Alkebulan Comimex group launched a private Dakar, Banjul and Praia freight line in October 2025, and its ship Djilor carried cement from Senegal and basalt from Cape Verde, according to Lusa, the Portuguese news agency.A separate ECOWAS Dakar to Praia link is targeted to start by the end of 2026.

People on the Move

The 2021 census counted 10,875 foreign residents, or 2.2% of 491,233 people, according to INE figures reported by Forbes África Lusófona. Guinea-Bissau accounted for about a third of foreign residents.

The same article suggests the Guinea-Bissau total could be near 10,000 once undocumented people are counted, but that estimate is unconfirmed.Every foreign visitor must pre-register on the EASE portal at ease.gov.cv, which is free, according to the 4sToGo travel site quoting official guidance.International flights carry an Airport Security Tax of 3,400 CVE (about €30.83), with exemptions for children under two and some other travellers.Entry rules have been changing, and secondary sources mention visa changes for some nationalities that we could not verify.

Check the immigration authority before you travel.

Where Cape Verde Leads and Follows

On security, Cape Verde is described by the US Africa Command and the Institute for Security Studies as unusually determined against cocaine smuggling. A US-funded Counter-Narcotics and Maritime Security Operations Center, which cost about $1.5m, supports that work.

We have no 2026 seizure statistics, so the record cannot be measured here. The Early Warning Centre in Praia adds a regional role in monitoring tensions.

On politics, the 17 May 2026 legislative election gave the PAICV party 37 of 72 seats on 48.04% of the vote, against 33 seats for the MpD party on 44.75%, per IPU Parline. Turnout was 46.46%, and the change of government followed peacefully.

As an editorial judgement, not a sourced finding, Cape Verde leads on stability and follows on trade volume. The World Bank reported GDP growth of 6.3% in 2025 and forecasts 4.8% for 2026, but also public debt of 100.7% of GDP in 2025.

What It Means for Foreigners and What to Watch

For investors, Cape Verde is a Europe-facing market with a West African political home. The ECOWAS trade share is small, so regional growth plans should be treated as ambition rather than present fact.

The government is led by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Francisco Carvalho. Manuel Augusto Lima Amante da Rosa holds the foreign affairs, communities and defence portfolio, according to Forbes África Lusófona.

The presidential election is set for 15 November 2026, and the Constitutional Court admitted five candidates on 21 September. They include Neves, who is seeking re-election, and Joana Gomes Rosa Amado of the MpD; a runoff would be needed if no one wins a majority, but we could not confirm its date.

Also watch the end-2026 target for the Dakar to Praia sea link. The new government’s programme may show its ECOWAS priorities.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which countries are Cape Verde’s neighbours?

Cape Verde has no land borders, so its neighbours are sea neighbours, chiefly Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. It has maritime delimitation treaties with Senegal, signed on 17 February 1993, and with Mauritania.

Is Cape Verde a member of ECOWAS?

Yes, Cape Verde joined ECOWAS in 1977.

Does Cape Verde trade much with West Africa?

Not much. In 2025 Europe took 95.4% of exports according to INE, and ECOWAS supplied about 5% of imports in one reported quarter.

Is there a ferry between Cape Verde and Senegal?

A private freight line between Dakar, Banjul and Praia launched in October 2025. An ECOWAS Dakar to Praia link is targeted for the end of 2026.

Which foreigners live in Cape Verde?

The 2021 census counted 10,875 foreign residents, or 2.2% of the population. Guinea-Bissau was the largest group.

When is Cape Verde’s next presidential election?

The vote is set for 15 November 2026. The Constitutional Court admitted five candidates, and a runoff would be needed if no one wins a majority.