Curated by Vinod Kumar Jain & Amit Jain · All Frontier Global · free, no login · reviewed 2026-07-05
Atlantic islands of morna music and volcanic peaks
Official figures, each with its source and the date it was read — the key-facts panel above is rounded and undated.
Income per head: GNI per capita, Atlas method: US$5,590 (2025), up from US$4,940 in 2024.
Income group: The World Bank classifies Cabo Verde as Upper middle income, region Sub-Saharan Africa, lending category Blend.
Economy size: GDP (current US$): US$3,056,630,435.32 — about US$3.06 billion (2025).
Output per head: GDP per capita (current US$): US$5,796.47 (2025) — the highest of any ECOWAS member on this measure, and the reason Cabo Verde reads more like an Atlantic middle-income island than like the West African mainland.
How much the diaspora sends: Personal remittances received were 11.67% of GDP in 2025 — 12.31% in 2024 and 12.63% in 2023. The page already calls remittances a structural pillar; this is the size of it.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Trade agreements (5): Cape Verde benefits from AfCFTA and ECOWAS membership plus an EU Special Partnership status; there is no India–Cape Verde FTA, so bilateral trade remains modest under MFN terms.
Passport strength: visa-free/VOA to ~79 destinations. Strong for the region; visa-free Schengen (short stay).
India × Cape Verde hub ↗ All countries factsheet
There is no Cabo Verdean e-visa for Indian citizens. What Cabo Verde runs is EASE — Processo Eficiente, Automático e Seguro de Entrada de Viajantes — a traveller pre-registration plus Airport Security Tax that every foreign national completes up to five days before arrival, whether or not a visa is needed. India is on neither of the government's two lists: not among the 48 countries whose nationals are visa-exempt, and not among the 91 that must hold a visa before arrival from 1 January 2026. India's own Ministry of External Affairs places Cabo Verde in its visa-on-arrival table — a 30-day tourism visa granted at the time of entry, subject to EASE pre-registration and a fee of Euro 53.50 (CVE 5,900). The 30 days for tourism this page already stated is right; the instrument is what changes. Plan around one mismatch: the state service portal prices a visa at 4,898 CVE, runs the tourism category to 90 days, and states that visas are currently applied for at Cabo Verdean embassies and consular services.
Corrected 19 August 2026 — this section described an e-visa applied for online before travel. No Cabo Verdean government source read on 19 August 2026 describes an e-visa at all, and both governments describe a different mechanism: pre-register on EASE, pay the tax, take the visa at entry. The MEA table is dated as on 3 March 2025 and carries the CPV Division's own accuracy caveat, so confirm with a Cabo Verdean mission before booking.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
e-Visa: no — EASE is pre-registration, not a visa · Visa on arrival: Varies by nationality
The list India is not on, and what it means: Cabo Verde's official EASE platform carries a standing notice: "As of January 1, 2026, nationals of the following countries will be required to obtain an entry visa for the national territory and for transit or airport stopovers prior to their arrival in Cabo Verde, under penalty of refusal of entry, transit, or stopover." The list attached to that notice runs to 91 countries. India is not one of them — Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar are.
The other list India is not on either: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular portal publishes "PAÍSES ESTRANGEIROS CUJOS NACIONAIS ESTÃO ISENTOS DE VISTO PARA CABO VERDE" — foreign countries whose nationals are exempt from a visa. It names 48 countries, who "podem entrar e permanecer até 90 dias sem necessidade de visto" (may enter and stay up to 90 days without a visa), extendable to 180 days on documented official or business travel. India is not on this list. So an Indian passport is in neither bucket: not exempt, and not required to hold the visa before boarding.
EASE is a pre-registration, not a visa: EASE stands for "PROCESSO EFICIENTE, AUTOMÁTICO E SEGURO DE ENTRADA DE VIAJANTES" — Efficient, Automatic and Safe Entry of Travellers. The government's own service portal is explicit that it sits alongside the visa rather than replacing it: every foreign national must pre-register on EASE and pay the Airport Security Tax (TSA) up to five days before arrival, whether or not a visa is needed, and travellers who do need a visa in advance "must apply for a visa before travelling at the nearest Cabo Verdean embassy or consular post".
The published visa types, durations and fee: The state service portal lists seven visa categories with their validity: transit 4 days, courtesy 30, diplomatic 30, official 30, tourism 90, ordinary temporary 180, temporary multiple-entry 180. It puts the cost at 4,898 CVE and states that "Currently, you must apply for the visa at the Cabo Verdean embassies and consular services." Note the mismatch worth planning around: the published tourism visa runs to 90 days, while the facility India's own ministry describes at the border is 30.
What India's own ministry lists: India's Ministry of External Affairs puts Cabo Verde at row 6 of its Visa on Arrival table, not its e-Visa table: "30 days Tourism Visa Facility subject to pre-registration on the online platform EASE (Efficient, Automatic and Safe Entry of Travellers), and payment of the fee [Airport Security Fee and Tourism Visa fee] of Euro 53.50 (CVE 5900)." The MEA attaches its own caveat — the information is compiled from public and external sources as on 3 March 2025, and the CPV Division does not warrant its accuracy.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Inter-island travel relies on domestic flights (Binter Cabo Verde) and ferries, while aluguers (shared minivans) are the backbone of road transport on islands like Santiago and São Vicente; regular taxis are common in Praia and Sal, though app-based hailing is minimal.
Car vs taxi: Renting a car is popular and practical on islands like Sal, Boa Vista, and Santiago for exploring beaches and villages independently, while aluguers and taxis suffice for those staying near main towns.
Money: Cards are widely accepted in tourist zones like Sal and Boa Vista, but cash (Cape Verdean escudo) is still needed for aluguers, markets, and smaller islands; ATMs are readily available in main towns.
SIM & data: CVMovel (CVTelecom) and Unitel T+ are the main carriers, offering solid 4G coverage across the main islands like Santiago and Sal; local SIMs are cheap and easy to buy at the airport.
Tipping: A relaxed 10% at sit-down restaurants in Praia or Mindelo is appreciated but not mandatory; rounding up taxi fares is common practice.
Etiquette: A warm, unhurried greeting culture prevails, so take time for small talk before business, and Cape Verdean morna music and creole pride are sources of local identity worth acknowledging.
Food: Sample cachupa (the national stew of corn, beans, and meat or fish) and fresh grilled tuna; tap water is generally treated in main towns but bottled water is the safer default for visitors.
Say hello: Portuguese — “Olá” · thanks “Obrigado” · how much? “Quanto custa?”
Cape Verde is one of the more stable and safe destinations in West Africa, with low violent crime, though petty theft can occur in busier tourist areas like Sal, so normal vigilance is enough.
For nomads: Praia and Mindelo are rising Atlantic nomad spots with a Remote Working programme, stable politics and decent internet.
Education: Portuguese-based system; small island education options.
Healthcare: Basic care on main islands; serious cases require mainland travel.
What prices are doing: Consumer price inflation ran at 2.34% in 2025, after 1.05% in 2024 and 3.72% in 2023. Cabo Verde is not a country where last year's price guidance goes stale fast — three years of low single digits is the pattern, not the exception.
What the entry itself costs: Budget the border before you budget the hotel. India's MEA prices the on-arrival package — Airport Security Fee plus tourism visa fee — at EUR 53.50, which it gives as CVE 5,900. The government's own service portal separately publishes a visa cost of 4,898 CVE. Either way it is a real line item, payable per traveller, and the EASE pre-registration has to be done up to five days before you fly.
What holds the household up: Personal remittances received were 11.67% of GDP in 2025. For an economy of US$3.06 billion that is the single largest recurring inflow after tourism, and it is why island prices can look high against island wages: a meaningful share of local spending is funded from Lisbon, Rotterdam and Boston rather than from Praia.
Compared with Senegal: The nearest mainland is Senegal, 570 km east and a fellow ECOWAS member, and the income gap is the thing to hold on to. World Bank GNI per capita, Atlas method, 2025: Cabo Verde US$5,590, Senegal US$1,780. Cabo Verde is a little over three times richer per head than the mainland neighbour it shares a bloc with — so read West African price expectations across to these islands with caution, in either direction. Same indicator, same method, same year on both sides — this comparison is like for like. What it is not is a price comparison: no official source we could reach publishes a national CPI or rent series for either country.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Places Cidade Velha (Historic site) · Plateau (Platô) (Historic district) · Sucupira Market (Market)
Places Porto Grande Bay (Waterfront) · Rua de Lisboa (Historic street) · Monte Verde (Mountain)
Places Santa Maria Beach (Beach) · Pedra de Lume Salt Crater (Natural formation) · Buracona Blue Eye (Natural landmark)
Places Tarrafal Beach (Beach) · Tarrafal Valley Agricultural Zone (Agricultural) · Monte Graciosa (Mountain)
Places Santa Maria Beach (Beach) · Buracona Natural Pool (Natural Attraction) · Shipwreck of Santa Maria (Historical Site)
City notes from Amit's own travels — the interactive travelogue holds the full record
Cabo Verde is a services-and-tourism island economy with fishing and a strategic mid-Atlantic location.
Trade framework: Cape Verde benefits from AfCFTA and ECOWAS membership plus an EU Special Partnership status; there is no India–Cape Verde FTA, so bilateral trade remains modest under MFN terms.
India angle: India engages through development and services.
Outlook: tourism and the blue economy drive the outlook.
The page's ECOWAS block is right that Cabo Verde belongs; what has changed is the size of the thing it belongs to. Read on 19 August 2026, the ECOWAS secretariat's member-states directory named twelve: Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger did not appear. The site's own footer still dates the project to 1975 — "Since 1975, ECOWAS has worked for the integration, peace and shared prosperity of West Africa" — so this is a shrinking of an old bloc, not a new one.
India implication: Anyone selling into Cabo Verde on an ECOWAS-market thesis should recount the market before writing the deck. A single tariff-and-standards story that covers fifteen states is no longer the same story that covers twelve, and the three that are missing are the landlocked Sahel — precisely the leg an Indian exporter would have routed overland. For Cabo Verde specifically the practical effect is small, because it is an island trading by sea and air, but the bloc-level pitch has to be re-cut.
Outlook: Treat the membership list as a live number and re-read it before any bloc-wide claim ships. This is the sort of fact that goes stale silently.
The instrument that actually governs Cabo Verde's terms into its largest market is not ECOWAS but the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences: the European Commission lists Cabo Verde as a GSP+ beneficiary, the arrangement that grants a 0% tariff rate to vulnerable economies implementing 27 international conventions on labour, human rights, environment and governance, and it publishes a dedicated country annex report for it. The trade underneath that instrument is strikingly one-directional. On the Commission's 2025 country factsheet, dated 20 May 2026, total EU–Cabo Verde goods trade was 703 million EUR: 628 million EUR of EU exports to Cabo Verde against 75 million EUR of EU imports from it.
India implication: Two readings for an Indian firm, and the second is the interesting one. First, the preference is conditional — GSP+ is tied to convention compliance, so an Indian investor manufacturing in Cabo Verde for the EU inherits a duty benefit that can be reviewed. Second, the eight-to-one import skew is the opening: 628 million EUR a year of goods arrive from Europe into a market of half a million people, and a great deal of that basket — machinery, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, chemicals — is exactly what Indian suppliers ship competitively elsewhere in West Africa. The competition to displace is European, not local.
Outlook: Watch the GSP beneficiary list itself: the Commission's page references a list applicable from 1 January 2027, so the arrangement covering Cabo Verde has a review horizon inside the next eighteen months.
The page's fisheries block says the economy is ocean-anchored; the Commission's numbers say how tightly. On the 2025 factsheet, Foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco is 83.8% of EU imports from Cabo Verde — the single dominant section by a distance — with textiles and textile articles at 5.9% and footwear, hats and other headgear at 3.8% trailing far behind. Read against the ranking, the scale is honest about itself: Cabo Verde is the EU's 130th partner overall, 138th for imports and 113th for exports.
India implication: This is a concentration risk with an Indian angle on both sides of it. On the buy side, an Indian processor or trader looking at Atlantic tuna is looking at a supplier whose entire export identity is one HS section pointed at one customer — good for price discovery, bad for resilience. On the sell side, the way in is not to compete with that section but to supply it: cans, packaging, cold-chain equipment, nets and vessel spares are inputs to the 83.8%, and today they arrive from Europe.
Outlook: A single-section export book moves with one market's demand and one fleet's catch. Treat the 83.8% as a structural fact about the country, not a 2025 fluctuation.
The page's AfCFTA block describes continental tariff leverage; here is where Cabo Verde actually stands in the instrument. The African Union's own status list, dated 22 May 2026, records Cabo Verde signing on 21 March 2018 — the day the agreement was adopted — ratifying on 13 November 2020, and depositing its instrument on 5 February 2022. Across the continent that list totals 54 signatures, 49 ratifications and 49 depositions. The agreement itself was adopted on 21 March 2018 and entered into force on 22 May 2019, so Cabo Verde deposited nearly three years after the framework was already live.
India implication: The gap between ratifying in November 2020 and depositing in February 2022 is the useful detail: deposit is the step that makes a party's obligations operative, and a fifteen-month lag says the administrative build-out followed the political decision at a distance. An Indian exporter planning to use Cabo Verde as an AfCFTA-preference entry point into West Africa should therefore verify the operative tariff schedule and rules-of-origin paperwork at the Cabo Verdean customs authority rather than assume continental terms apply automatically.
Outlook: With 49 of 54 signatories having deposited, the instrument's coverage is near-complete on paper; the variable that matters commercially is implementation at each border, not further accessions.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Qualitative profile for orientation — confirm current figures and agreement status before acting.
There is no Cabo Verdean e-visa for Indian citizens. India's Ministry of External Affairs places Cabo Verde in its visa-on-arrival table — a 30-day tourism visa granted at the time of entry, subject to EASE pre-registration completed up to five days before arrival and a fee of Euro 53.50 (CVE 5,900) — while the state service portal states that visas are currently applied for at Cabo Verdean embassies and consular services. Confirm with a Cabo Verdean mission before booking.
Cape Verde uses the Cape Verdean escudo (CVE). Capital: Praia.
Cape Verde benefits from AfCFTA and ECOWAS membership plus an EU Special Partnership status; there is no India–Cape Verde FTA, so bilateral trade remains modest under MFN terms.
Cape Verde is one of the more stable and safe destinations in West Africa, with low violent crime, though petty theft can occur in busier tourist areas like Sal, so normal vigilance is enough.
Pre-register on EASE, and budget for a fee at the border. India is on neither of the two lists that would settle it the easy way: not on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of 48 countries whose nationals are exempt from a visa and may stay 90 days, and not on the 91-country list published on the EASE platform whose nationals must hold an entry visa before arrival from 1 January 2026. What the Government of Cabo Verde does require of everyone is EASE pre-registration — "PROCESSO EFICIENTE, AUTOMÁTICO E SEGURO DE ENTRADA DE VIAJANTES" — plus the Airport Security Tax, up to five days before arrival; note that EASE is a pre-registration, not a visa. The state portal prices a visa at 4,898 CVE and lists a 90-day tourism category, applied for at Cabo Verdean embassies and consular services. India's own Ministry of External Affairs lists Cabo Verde under Visa on Arrival: a 30-day tourism visa granted at the time of entry, subject to EASE pre-registration and a fee of EUR 53.50 (CVE 5,900), on a table compiled as on 3 March 2025 and carrying the ministry's own accuracy caveat.
By income, yes, and that is the honest frame. World Bank GNI per capita, Atlas method, for 2025 is US$5,590 in Cabo Verde against US$1,780 in Senegal, its nearest mainland neighbour and fellow ECOWAS member — a little over three times higher per head (5,590 ÷ 1,780 = 3.14, our arithmetic on two World Bank figures). GDP per capita is US$5,796.47 and consumer price inflation was 2.34% in 2025, after 1.05% in 2024, so prices are high relative to the region but not moving fast. One structural note before you read any local price as a local wage: personal remittances received were 11.67% of GDP in 2025, so a real share of island spending is funded from abroad. We are not quoting rent or meal figures here — Cabo Verde's national statistics institute serves no machine-readable release and the central bank site fails TLS verification, so no national price series was sourceable on 19 August 2026.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Developed by Amit Jain at allfrontierglobal.com
Neighbouring profiles in the same UN M49 region.
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