Cape Verde's goods imports rose 244.4% from a year earlier to 177.7bn CVE (€1.61bn) in the third quarter of 2026, statistics agency INE said on November 3. Imports in the customs chapter for reactors and boilers, which covers machinery and engines, rose to 118.1bn CVE (€1.07bn) from 2.9bn CVE (€25.9mn), or 66.4% of the total. Excluding that chapter, imports rose 22.4%, INE said.
Analysis: In one quarter, Cape Verde imported 88.9% of the 200.0bn CVE (€1.81bn) of goods it bought in all of 2025, by our calculation. INE did not name the importer or the goods. Capital goods imports rose 1,111.4%, however, suggesting a single equipment purchase rather than broad-based buying. The trade deficit widened to 175.1bn CVE (€1.59bn), although a lease or re-export could offset part of it elsewhere in the balance of payments. Underlying demand still rose 22.4%, with fuel imports up 77.6%. INE's fourth-quarter release, expected around early February, should show whether the jump was a one-off.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE Cabo Verde), INE press release, external trade statistics, third quarter 2026 (November 3, 2026), Q3 2026 and Q3 2025 and 2025
Cape Verde's domestic exports rose 11.8% from a year earlier to 2.64bn CVE (€23.9mn) in the third quarter of 2026, statistics agency INE said on November 3. Prepared and canned fish made up 64.6% of the total, down from 85.0% a year earlier. Meanwhile, postage stamps accounted for 21.7% and clothing for 4.8%. Spain bought 56.8% of exports, and re-exports rose 51.7% to 11.0bn CVE (€100mn), INE said.
Analysis: Canned fish exports fell about 15% to roughly 1.7bn CVE (€15.4mn), by our calculation, so the gain came from postage stamps worth about 572mn CVE (€5.2mn). INE gave no reason for either move. The fish share was 79.9% as recently as the second quarter. However, catches and cannery output vary by season, so one quarter does not make a trend. Canneries and the boat owners who supply them carry most of the risk, because fish still makes up nearly two-thirds of exports. INE's fourth-quarter trade release, expected around early February, should show whether fish sales recover.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE Cabo Verde), INE press release, external trade statistics, third quarter 2026 (November 3, 2026), Q3 2026 and Q3 2025; Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE Cabo Verde), INE, Nota de imprensa Estatísticas do Comércio Externo - 2º trimestre 2026, Q2 2026
Cape Verde's state plans to repay 2.9bn CVE (€26.6mn) more to foreign lenders in 2027 than it receives from them, the fiscal council CFP said in its analysis of the 2027 budget proposal. External loan disbursements fall 22.9% to 9.3bn CVE (€84.0mn). Meanwhile, domestic borrowing reaches 18.8bn CVE (€170mn). Domestic debt would rise 3.9% to 108.8bn CVE (€987mn), the council said.
Analysis: The shift replaces cheaper foreign loans with domestic borrowing. External debt carried an average rate of 0.98% in 2025, with 73% on concessional terms. Meanwhile, the Treasury paid 3% on three-year bonds in October, a gap of about 2 points, by our calculation. Banks, which held 54.4% of domestic public debt in 2025, are the main buyers. The council urged prudence given the small local market and possible effects on credit to the private sector. The plan also counts on 1.8bn CVE (€16.3mn) from selling state holdings, against 188mn CVE (€1.7mn) this year, without naming them. Parliament's final vote on the budget is due before the end of the year.
Source: Conselho das Finanças Públicas (fiscal council), CFP analysis of the 2027 budget proposal (approved November 2, 2026), 2027; Conselho das Finanças Públicas (fiscal council), CFP analysis of the 2027 budget proposal, 2027 and 2025; Ministério das Finanças de Cabo Verde, Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde, 'Relatório Resultado de Leilões', auction of October 26, 2026 (OTE3,0000%OT27OUT29), published by the finance ministry, October 26, 2026; Banco de Cabo Verde, Banco de Cabo Verde, Relatório de Estabilidade Financeira 2025 (published September 25, 2026), 2025
Cape Verde will ask the IMF for a three-month extension, moving the end date from January to March 2027, to complete its Extended Credit Facility and its climate-focused Resilience and Sustainability Facility, Secretary of State for Finance Maria José Lopes said on November 6 as an IMF mission ended. She cited complex reforms across ministries, missing documents and unapproved 2023–2025 accounts at state airline TACV, according to the finance ministry and Lusa.
Analysis: IMF staff agreed the eighth loan review in May, yet this mission covered it again alongside the ninth, suggesting it never reached the IMF's Executive Board. Completing the eighth loan review and the fourth climate review would release up to about SDR 7.6mn, by our calculation. The delay is not about the economy. The IMF put reserves at about €1.17bn at the end of October, more than seven months of projected imports, with the current account in surplus in the first half. Mission chief Martin Schindler welcomed the 2027 primary surplus target of about 3bn CVE (€27.2mn) but stressed realistic revenue projections. The IMF board must approve the extension, and no date has been published.
Source: Expresso das Ilhas, Lusa via Expresso das Ilhas, November 6, 2026, January-March 2027 and 2023-2025; Ministério das Finanças de Cabo Verde, Finance ministry news release, November 6, 2026, on the close of the IMF mission, 2027; Notícias ao Minuto / Lusa, Lusa via Notícias ao Minuto, November 6, 2026, 2027; Ministério das Finanças de Cabo Verde, Finance ministry news release, November 6, 2026, End-October 2026 and H1 2026; International Monetary Fund, IMF Press Release 26/146, May 8, 2026, Eighth ECF review (staff-level agreement May 8, 2026) and Fourth RSF review (staff-level agreement May 8, 2026); RTP / Lusa, RTP Notícias (Lusa), 'Cabo Verde e FMI vão avaliar novos apoios apenas após fim dos programas atuais', October 13, 2026, 2022–2026 and 2023–2026
Praia, Cape Verde's capital, loses about 60% of its water, utility Águas de Santiago (AdS) said after dismantling about 70 illegal connections to its network in September and October, according to Expresso das Ilhas and A Nação. The utility gave no figures for the volumes or revenue lost.
Analysis: A loss rate of about 60% means only about four of every ten cubic meters produced reach paying customers, by our calculation. A study presented to regulator ARME in 2019 had already found losses above 60% in Praia's Achada Santo António district. Lost water still has to be produced and paid for. In September 2025 the government approved more than 967mn CVE (€8.8mn) to cover the water sector's tariff deficit from 2019 to 2025. The $100mn JICA-financed project is set to add 15,000 cubic meters a day of desalination capacity. However, published details do not say how much of it targets network losses. AdS has published no loss-reduction target or date for one.
Source: Expresso das Ilhas, Expresso das Ilhas, November 5, 2026, citing utility Águas de Santiago (AdS), November 2026 (as stated); A Nação (weekly), A Nação, November 6, 2026, citing AdS, September-October 2026; Agência Reguladora Multissetorial da Economia, ARME news item, September 27, 2019, on the AdS water-loss study, September 2018-May 2019; Expresso das Ilhas, Expresso das Ilhas, September 26, 2025, on resolution 96/2025, 2019-2025; Balai, Balai, March 9, 2026, Announced March 2026 and Planned
Chart of the week
Cape Verde consumer price inflation, % change from a year earlier, INE data, monthly, September 2025–September 2026
Year-on-year change in the national consumer price index of statistics agency INE, taken from the central bank BCV's August bulletin up to July 2026 and from INE's monthly notes for August and September. September's 2.7% is the highest rate since December 2025 (3.3%). July is shown at 1.1%, as the BCV printed it, while INE's own July note gave a lower rate.. Source: Banco de Cabo Verde, BCV, Boletim de Estatísticas agosto 2026 (monthly statistical bulletin, published 9 Oct 2026), September 2025 and October 2025 and November 2025 and January 2026 and February 2026 and March 2026 and April 2026 and May 2026 and June 2026 and July 2026; Banco de Cabo Verde, BCV, Boletim de Estatísticas agosto 2026 (published October 9, 2026), December 2025; INE Cabo Verde, INE, Nota de imprensa IPC - Agosto 2026, August 2026; INE Cabo Verde, INE, Nota de imprensa: Índice de Preços no Consumidor Nacional - Setembro de 2026, September 2026.
In Alama Pro this week
Deep dive: Cape Verde's state turns to local banks to borrow in 2027
12 stories with workings, from trade, the 2027 budget and the IMF programs to water, power, offshore exploration, household lending rules and air travel
Five key figures, from inflation and remittances to hotel stays and central bank reserves, and every open tender in our records
