• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Cabo Verde / Cape Verde - Foreign Relations

Cape Verde pursues a nonaligned foreign policy and seeks cooperative relations with all states. Angola, Brazil, China, Cuba, France, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Spain, and the United States maintain embassies in Praia. Several others, mostly European countries, maintain honorary consulates. In addition, Cape Verde maintains multilateral relations with other Lusophone nations and holds membership in many international organizations. On July 23, 2008, Cape Verde became the 153rd member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in hopes of opening its markets for imported goods and services.

PAIGC (later PAICV, African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde), maintained quite pragmatic relations with the world powers during the Cold War. Cape Verde took advantage of its strategic location in the Atlantic Ocean and made the Sal Airport a viable stopping point for aircraft crossing the Atlantic. Another source of income for the country was the flow of remittances from Capeverdeans living abroad. Finally, donations from other countries, first China and the Soviet Union and then Western countries, helped force PAICV into a more practical, less aligned posture in the years of the Cold War.

The opening of the country to the international community was one of the reasons for the gradual transformation of the political system in a democratic direction. Though oneparty rule was sustained until the late 1980s, PAICV leaders realized that maintaining the growing assistance of western countries required an expansion of democratic competition. In September of 1990, the country’s constitution was changed to allow for multiparty competition and the introduction of a semipresidential regime.

Present in Cape Verde since independence, the French Development Agency (AFD) intervenes in the infrastructure sectors (municipal equipment, water, sanitation, electricity) and bank credit. Since the transition from Cape Verde to the status of medium-development country in 2008, AFD has granted sovereign loans: € 10 million in 2009 in the water sector (drinking water supply and sanitation) in Santiago; € 22.2m in 2011 on desalination plants in Sao Vicente and Sal. Finally, in December 2014, a € 26 million loan was granted to the State for the strengthening of electricity production capacities on the island of Sal and the optimization of the incorporation of renewable energies into the electricity grid. However, following the red classification by the IMF in November 2016, AFD can no longer offer this type of loan.

With regard to military and defense cooperation, France's support focuses on supporting Cape Verdean armed forces in their desire for regional integration, particularly within the ECOWAS waiting brigade. It is concretized in particular by the teaching of French for the benefit of the military, relying on the structures of the civil cooperation. The frequent stops of the Navy are also the opportunity for training.

Since China and Cabo Verde established diplomatic relations on April 25, 1976, bilateral relations have been growing smoothly. Both sides have carried effective cooperation in areas such as politics, economy and trade, culture, education, health, and increased coordination in international affairs. In 2002, Xu Jialu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited Cape Verde. In 2004, Cabo Verdean Prime Minister Neves visited China. Bilateral trade came to 5.19 million U.S. dollars in 2005.