List of presidents of Cape Verde

President of the
Republic of Cabo Verde
President of the; Republic of Cabo Verde
Presidente de Cabo Verde (Portuguese)
	National emblem of Cape Verde
	Incumbent; José Maria Neves; since 9 November 2021
	Executive branch of the Government of Cape Verde
Residence	Presidential Palace, Praia
Term length	5 years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Aristides Pereira
Formation	8 July 1975

This article lists the presidents of Cape Verde, an island country in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa, since the establishment of the office of president in 1975. Aristides Pereira was the first person to hold the office, taking effect on 8 July 1975. The incumbent is José Maria Neves, having taken office on 9 November 2021.

Term limits

As of 2021, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Cape Verde. The first president for whom the term limits applied was Monteiro in 2001.^[1]

List of officeholders

Political parties

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC)

African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV)

Movement for Democracy (MpD)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Term of office			Political party
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party
1		Aristides Pereira (1923–2011)	1975 1981 1986	8 July 1975	22 March 1991	15 years, 257 days	PAIGC (until 1981^[2])
		Aristides Pereira (1923–2011)	1975 1981 1986	8 July 1975	22 March 1991	15 years, 257 days	PAICV (from 1981^[2])
2		António Mascarenhas Monteiro (1944–2016)	1991 1996	22 March 1991	22 March 2001	10 years	MpD
3		Pedro Pires (born 1934)	2001 2006	22 March 2001	9 September 2011	10 years, 171 days	PAICV
4		Jorge Carlos Fonseca (born 1950)	2011 2016	9 September 2011	9 November 2021	10 years, 61 days	MpD
5		José Maria Neves (born 1960)	2021	9 November 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 59 days	PAICV

Timeline

Latest election


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	José Maria Neves	African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde	95,803	51.73
	Carlos Veiga	Movement for Democracy	78,474	42.37
	Casimiro de Pina	Independent	3,343	1.81
	Fernando Rocha Delgado	Independent	2,516	1.36
	Helio Sanches	Independent	2,119	1.14
	Gilson Alves	Independent	1,558	0.84
	Joaquim Monteiro	Independent	1,378	0.74
Total			185,191	100.00

Valid votes			185,191	96.90
Invalid/blank votes			5,928	3.10
Total votes			191,119	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			398,865	47.92
Source: CNE

References

^ Cook, Candace; Siegle, Joseph. "Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa". Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
^ ^a ^b Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 113.