The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has dispatched a senior Pre-Election Fact-Finding Mission to Cabo Verde to assess the country’s readiness for two major elections scheduled later this year, with Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah leading the delegation.
The mission commenced engagements on March 3, beginning with a briefing at the ECOWAS Permanent Representation hosted by Ms Kelly Lopes, followed by talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge do Livramento on the institutional framework governing the upcoming electoral cycle.
Legislative elections are set for May 17, 2026, while the presidential vote is scheduled for November 15, with a potential runoff on November 29 if no candidate secures an outright majority.
The delegation also visited the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre Zone G, where discussions with Coordinator Captain Abdoulaye Dieng focused on regional security cooperation and the importance of a stable governance environment for the conduct of democratic processes. The visit is notable given that Cabo Verde’s archipelago position on a major maritime trade route exposes it to transnational organised crime, with its ports used for illicit arms, finance, and drug trafficking, and the islands serving as a transit point for African migrants bound for Europe.
In the coming days, the mission will hold consultations with electoral management bodies, political parties, civil society organisations, regulatory institutions, and international partners as part of a comprehensive pre-electoral assessment.
Cabo Verde consistently ranks as Africa’s most democratic country in Freedom House’s annual survey and has alternated power between its two leading parties, the Movimento para a Democracia (MpD) and the Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde (PAICV), since transitioning to a multiparty system in 1991. The country’s 2026 electoral cycle is therefore widely expected to proceed without the tensions that have marked polls elsewhere in West Africa.
The ECOWAS mission nonetheless forms part of the bloc’s broader 2026 electoral calendar, which also includes oversight of presidential polls in Benin in April and legislative elections in The Gambia. All three countries were specifically identified as priority democratic engagements by the ECOWAS Parliament when it convened its first extraordinary session for 2026 in Abuja in February.
