More Cape Verdeans live abroad than at home. Today the islands choose a president, with a woman on the ballot for the first time

Voters across Cape Verde’s ten-island Atlantic archipelago went to the polls on Sunday to choose a president, in an election that could put a woman in the country’s highest office for the first time.

Six candidates are standing. The incumbent, José Maria Neves of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), is seeking a second five-year term and is widely seen as the front-runner. His main challenger is Joana Rosa, a former justice minister from the opposition Movement for Democracy (MpD), and the first woman to contest the presidency since the former Portuguese colony became independent in 1975. Four other opposition candidates are also on the ballot.

Polling stations opened at 8am local time (5pm AWST) and close at 6pm (3am Monday AWST). Results are expected within two to three days.

Why is emigration the issue?

Because the country’s people are, in large numbers, somewhere else. More Cape Verdeans live abroad, mostly in Portugal and the United States, than the roughly 500,000 who live on the islands. Nearly 77,000 of them are registered to vote at embassies overseas, a significant share of the electorate.

The pull is work. Cape Verde has built a reputation as a tourist destination, but young people say there are too few jobs at home, and local political analysts describe limited economic opportunity as the main force pushing them out.

Both leading candidates have made it the centre of their pitch. Neves has promised a youth summit on emigration if he is re-elected, alongside commitments on housing, health, education and wages. Rosa has said she wants a country where young people can “build their futures here at home”.

What does the president actually do?

Less than the title suggests. Cape Verde has a hybrid system in which the prime minister runs the government. The president, directly elected, plays a largely ceremonial and mediating role but can veto legislation, which matters when the president and the government come from opposing parties.

That is exactly the situation a Rosa victory would create. In May’s parliamentary election, the PAICV won 37 of the 72 seats, ending a decade of MpD government, and Neves appointed the then mayor of Praia, Francisco Carvalho, as prime minister. Rosa has pitched herself as a counterweight to a party that now holds the government and most of the country’s municipalities.

Why does it matter beyond the islands?

Cape Verde is regularly held up as one of Africa’s most stable democracies, with peaceful transfers of power between its two main parties since multiparty rule began in 1991. In a region where several neighbouring states have seen coups or delayed elections in recent years, a clean vote and an accepted result carry weight.

It would also be a first in a country where women have held senior Cabinet posts but never the presidency or the prime ministership.

How is the winner decided?

A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright. If no one gets there, the top two go to a runoff on 29 November. In 2021, Neves won in the first round with just over 51%.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.