Located off the west coast of Africa, Cabo Verde stands as one of the most stable and transparent democratic success stories on the continent since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975. Central to this remarkable journey is José Maria Neves—a politician and academic who served three consecutive terms as prime minister between 2001 and 2016 before being elected president of the republic in October 2021.
Neves’s professional and political career mirrors the structural transformations the country has undergone: the transition from a one-party system to political pluralism and the shift from an aid-dependent economy to a middle-income economy driven by services, tourism, and good governance.
José Maria Pereira Neves was born on March 28, 1960, in Santa Catarina, on Santiago, the largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago. He grew up in a social environment that witnessed both the final stages of Portuguese colonial rule and the dawn of independence.
He pursued his university education in Brazil, earning a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the São Paulo School of Business Administration at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV)—one of Latin America’s most prestigious academic institutions. This education provided him with a profound understanding of public administration theories, development policies, and the mechanisms of institution-building in developing nations. He later pursued further academic studies and worked as a teacher and lecturer at both local and international universities—a background that lent an analytical and academic quality to his political style.
Neves began his political career early on by joining the youth wing of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), the party that had governed the country from independence until the adoption of a multi-party system in 1990.
During the 1990s—following the party’s defeat in the first democratic elections to the Movement for Democracy (MpD)—Neves played a pivotal role in restructuring the PAICV from within. He was identified with the reformist faction that sought to modernise the party’s ideology, shifting it away from the legacy of African socialism toward a modern social-democratic model that embraced a market-orientated economy while protecting vulnerable social groups.
He held a succession of legislative and executive positions, including mayor of Santa Cruz on the island of Santiago. There, he established a successful model of local governance and decentralisation, which bolstered his national standing within the party and led to his election as its leader in 2000.
In the 2001 elections, Neves led the PAICV back to power and became prime minister. He served three consecutive terms (2001, 2006, and 2011) following general election victories, marking the longest tenure of any head of government in the country’s democratic history.
His tenure coincided with fundamental changes in the country’s economic and social structure. His governments focused on overcoming geographical isolation between the islands by expanding international airports (such as the Praia and São Vicente airports), developing seaports, paving roads, and improving water and electricity networks.
Cape Verde “graduated” in 2008 from the “Least Developed Country” (LDC) category to be classified by the United Nations as a “Lower-Middle-Income Country”—a rare achievement for a non-oil-producing nation lacking vast natural resources. He signed a special partnership agreement with the European Union in 2007, and the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2008, all while maintaining balanced relations with traditional partners (Portugal and the United States) and emerging counterparts (Senegal and China).
Despite these economic achievements, his governments faced criticism. Massive infrastructure projects led to an increase in foreign borrowing, pushing the public debt-to-GDP ratio beyond 100% by the end of his term. The economy remained susceptible to external fluctuations, and the labour market struggled to absorb the growing youth workforce, while emigration persisted.
Government administration faced accusations of being bloated and stagnant in certain vital sectors. After stepping down as prime minister and party leader in 2016, Neves temporarily withdrew from active politics to return to academic teaching and writing. In 2021, he announced his candidacy for the presidency as an independent, backed by his long-standing party, the PAICV.
Neves won in the first round of voting in October 2021, securing over 51% of the vote and defeating his main rival, Carlos Veiga—a former prime minister and a key figure in the Movement for Democracy (MpD).
This victory underscored the maturity of Cape Verde’s democratic model, demonstrating a smooth and peaceful transfer of power: the head of government belonged to the MPD, while the newly elected president hailed from the rival PAICV.
Cape Verde operates under a semi-presidential system. The President holds specific sovereign powers—including representing the state, serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appointing ambassadors, exercising a constitutional veto over parliamentary legislation, and acting as the “guarantor of the Constitution and institutions”—while direct executive authority rests with the Prime Minister and the government.
