Foreign relations of Cape Verde

Cape Verde follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states. Angola, Brazil, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, France, Germany, Portugal, Senegal, Russia, South Korea and the United States maintain embassies in Praia.

Cape Verde is actively interested in foreign affairs, especially in Africa. It has bilateral relations with some Lusophone nations and holds membership in a number of international organizations. It also participates in most international conferences on economic and political issues.

Diplomatic relations

List of countries which Cape Verde maintains diplomatic relations with:

#	Country	Date[1]
1	Guinea-Bissau	5 July 1975[2]
2	Senegal	6 July 1975[3]
3	Guinea	8 July 1975[4]
4	Vietnam	8 July 1975[5]
5	Japan	11 July 1975[6]
6	Hungary	16 July 1975[7]
7	Portugal	18 July 1975[8]
8	United States	19 July 1975[9]
9	Liberia	27 July 1975[10]
10	North Korea	18 August 1975[11]
11	Cuba	5 September 1975[12]
12	Romania	17 September 1975[13]
13	Russia	19 September 1975[14]
14	Argentina	26 September 1975[15]
15	Czech Republic	28 October 1975[16]
16	Mongolia	19 November 1975[17]
17	Brazil	5 December 1975[4]
18	France	31 December 1975[18]
19	Equatorial Guinea	1975[19]
20	Poland	12 February 1976[20]
21	Mexico	19 February 1976[21]
22	Mozambique	15 March 1976[22]
23	China	25 April 1976[23]
—	Holy See	12 May 1976[24]
24	Canada	20 July 1976[25]
25	Nigeria	18 August 1976[4]
26	Egypt	19 October 1976[4]
27	Italy	18 November 1976[26]
28	Netherlands	20 November 1976[4]
29	Sweden	4 December 1976[4]
30	Serbia	1976[27]
31	Mauritania	18 January 1977[4]
32	Luxembourg	31 March 1977[28]
33	Norway	9 May 1977[29]
34	United Kingdom	17 May 1977[4]
35	India	6 June 1977[4]
36	Belgium	12 July 1977[4]
37	Iceland	20 July 1977[30]
38	Ghana	4 October 1977[4]
39	Algeria	19 October 1977[31]
40	Angola	30 October 1977[32]
41	Spain	21 December 1977[33]
42	Republic of the Congo	1977[34][35]
43	Sierra Leone	8 January 1978[36]
44	Iraq	9 January 1978[37]
45	Gambia	January 1978[38]
46	Austria	29 April 1978[39]
47	Turkey	24 June 1979[40]
48	Ivory Coast	3 December 1979[41]
49	Tanzania	11 March 1980[42]
50	Germany	2 June 1980[43]
51	Bulgaria	5 June 1980[44]
52	Switzerland	25 June 1980[45]
53	Albania	6 August 1980[46]
—	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (frozen)	30 September 1980[47]
54	Tunisia	1981[48]
55	Zambia	10 July 1982[49]
56	Finland	22 July 1983[50]
57	Nicaragua	25 October 1983[51]
58	Ethiopia	October 1983[52]
59	Cambodia	23 March 1984[53]
60	Denmark	1984[54]
61	Morocco	1985[55]
62	Zimbabwe	March 1986[56]
63	Greece	24 April 1986[57]
64	Thailand	2 December 1986[58]
65	Seychelles	9 March 1987[59]
66	Kuwait	30 March 1987[60]
67	Colombia	27 July 1987
68	Pakistan	30 October 1987[60]
69	South Korea	3 October 1988[61]
70	Peru	1 November 1988[62]
71	Bolivia	1 March 1989
—	State of Palestine	1989[63]
72	Estonia	1 October 1991[64]
73	Ukraine	25 March 1992[65]
74	Lithuania	28 May 1992[66]
75	Belarus	4 June 1992[67]
76	Kazakhstan	30 July 1992[68]
77	Slovenia	17 August 1992[69]
78	Latvia	21 October 1992[70]
79	Armenia	26 February 1993[71]
80	Slovakia	7 April 1993[72]
81	South Africa	4 April 1994[73]
82	Israel	27 July 1994[74]
83	Croatia	19 August 1994[75]
84	Iran	November 1994[76]
85	Singapore	6 October 1995[77]
86	Bosnia and Herzegovina	18 October 1995[78]
87	Marshall Islands	1 December 1995
88	Malaysia	19 January 1996[79]
89	Costa Rica	23 May 1996
—	Sovereign Military Order of Malta	1996[80]
90	Namibia	21 August 1996[81]
91	Jamaica	22 March 1999
92	Chile	20 October 1999[82]
93	Philippines	21 March 2000
94	Cyprus	31 March 2000
95	Maldives	23 April 2003
96	Madagascar	9 October 2003[83]
97	Azerbaijan	22 March 2004
98	Moldova	2 September 2004
99	North Macedonia	10 December 2004[84]
100	Bahrain	17 March 2005
101	Qatar	23 March 2005[85]
102	Oman	22 May 2006
103	Andorra	30 June 2006
104	United Arab Emirates	July 2006[86]
105	Guatemala	25 July 2006
106	Venezuela	20 September 2006
107	Saudi Arabia	14 March 2007[87]
108	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	30 June 2007[88]
109	Dominican Republic	28 September 2007[89]
110	São Tomé and Príncipe	10 November 2008[90]
111	Australia	22 September 2009[91]
112	Timor-Leste	18 November 2009[92]
113	Georgia	22 January 2010
114	Libya	February 2010[93]
115	Sudan	30 May 2010[94]
116	Ecuador	10 August 2010
117	Montenegro	17 December 2010
118	Solomon Islands	26 May 2011
119	Fiji	2 April 2012[95]
120	Indonesia	5 December 2012[96]
121	Mali	6 December 2012[97]
122	Gabon	7 December 2012[98]
123	Uruguay	10 September 2013
124	Burkina Faso	14 May 2014[99][100]
125	Democratic Republic of the Congo	14 May 2014[100]
126	Malta	17 March 2016
127	Rwanda	4 May 2017[101]
128	Nepal	3 August 2017
129	Monaco	10 August 2017
130	Bangladesh	6 June 2018[102]
131	Tajikistan	7 June 2018
132	Dominica	15 May 2019
133	San Marino	25 September 2019[103]
134	Kyrgyzstan	26 September 2019
135	Ireland	19 March 2021[104]
136	Panama	5 April 2021[105]
137	Lebanon	20 May 2021
138	Barbados	21 July 2022[106]
139	Antigua and Barbuda	September 2022[107]
140	Saint Lucia	20 September 2022[108]
141	Palau	22 September 2022
142	Bahamas	8 December 2022
143	Suriname	12 December 2022
144	Trinidad and Tobago	14 March 2023
145	Guyana	4 April 2023
146	Samoa	9 May 2023
147	Belize	15 February 2024
148	El Salvador	15 February 2024[109]
149	Comoros	25 April 2024
150	Saint Kitts and Nevis	10 May 2024
151	Uzbekistan	23 September 2024[110]
152	Liechtenstein	2024[111]
153	Burundi	19 June 2025[112]
154	Cameroon	Unknown[113]
155	Kenya	Unknown

Bilateral relations

Country	Formal Relations Began	Notes
Angola	30 October 1977[32]	See Angola–Cape Verde relations Cape Verde signed a friendship accord with Angola in December 1975, shortly after Angola gained its independence. Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau served as stop-over points for Cuban troops on their way to Angola to fight UNITA rebels and South African troops. Prime Minister Pedro Pires sent FARP soldiers to Angola where they served as the personal bodyguards of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos.[114] Angola has an embassy in Praia. Cape Verde has an embassy in Luanda and a consulate in Benguela.
Brazil	5 December 1975[4]	See Brazil–Cape Verde relations Cape Verde has an embassy in Brasília. Brazil has an embassy in Praia.
China	25 April 1976[23]	See Cape Verde–China relations In January 2007, Manuel Inocêncio Sousa, Minister of Infrastructure, Transports and Sea, acknowledged the People's Republic of China's importance to Cape Verde stating: "China has been a friend of Cape Verde even before it gained independence from Portugal 30 years ago. Bilateral relations have been very good: in 2002, for example, the trade value between our two countries reached US $1.8 million, in Chinese exports of light industry products and miscellaneous goods." Cape Verde has an embassy in Beijing. China has an embassy in Praia.
Czech Republic	28 October 1975 and 1 January 1993	Cape Verde is accredited to the Czech Republic from its embassy in Berlin, Germany. Czech Republic is accredited to Cape Verde by its embassy in Lisbon, Portugal[115][116] and an honorary consulate in Praia.[117]
France	31 December 1975[18]	See Cape Verde–France relations Cape Verde has an embassy in Paris and a consulate-general in Nice. France has an embassy in Praia.
Guinea-Bissau	5 July 1975	See Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is about 900 km south-east of Cape Verde in coastal West Africa. Both were colonies of the Portuguese Empire and they campaigned together for independence with a plan for unification, but the countries separated after 1980.[118][119] Cape Verde has an embassy in Bissau. Guinea-Bissau has an embassy in Praia.
Hungary	16 July 1975[7]	Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 July 1975[120] Hungary is represented in Cape-Verde by its embassy in Lisbon, Portugal[121][122] and an honorary consulate in Praia.[121]
India	6 June 1977[4]	See Cape Verde–India relations After Cape Verde became a Portuguese colony in the 15th century, it became an important transit point for trade routes from Europe to India and Australia.[123] The Embassy of India in Dakar, Senegal is concurrently accredited to Cape Verde. Cape Verde maintains an Honorary Consulate General in New Delhi.[124] Foreign Minister Jose Brito was the first Cape Verdean minister to visit India in November 2009.[125] Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat visited Cape Verde in September 2015 as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy. Bhagat invited Cape Verde to send a delegation to attend the third India Africa Forum Summit. Foreign Minister Tolentini Araujo Jorge led the Cape Verdean delegation to participate in the Summit in New Delhi in October 2015.[126] Bilateral trade between Cape Verde and India totaled US$4.20 million in 2014 to 2015, declining by 40.72% from the previous fiscal. India exported $1.43 million worth of goods to Cape Verde, and imported $2.77 million. The main commodities exported from India to Cape Verde are drugs, pharmaceuticals, plastic and linoleum products, and man-made fibers.[126] IBSA provided a grant to refurbish a healthcare Centre in Cape Verde. India provided a line of credit worth $5 million to establish a Technology Park in the country. India donated $50,000 in 2010 to help the Government of Cape Verde to fight dengue fever, and supplied computers for the Government's "A New World" programme in October 2012. Citizens of Cape Verde are eligible for scholarships under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.[126] A small Indian community resides in Cape Verde.[126]
Indonesia		Indonesia is represented in Cape Verde by its embassy in Dakar.[127]
Mexico	19 February 1976	Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 February 1976[21] Cape Verde is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.[128] Mexico is accredited to Cape Verde from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.[129]
Portugal	18 July 1975[8]	See Cape Verde–Portugal relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 July 1975 when Chargé d'Affaires of Portugal Embassy in Praia Manuel António Pacheco Jorge Barreiros presented letters of credentials[130] Cape Verde has an embassy in Lisbon. Portugal has an embassy in Praia.
South Africa	4 April 1994[73]	Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 April 1994[131] Cape Verde is accredited to South Africa from its embassy in Luanda, Angola. South Africa is accredited to Cape Verde from its embassy in Dakar, Senegal.
South Korea	3 October 1988[61]	Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 October 1988[132] In 2011 Bilateral Trade were Exports $1,140,792 (Machineries, Automobile, Optical Instruments) Imports: $65,166.[133]
Spain	21 December 1977[33]	See Cape Verde–Spain relations Cape Verde has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has an embassy in Praia.
Turkey	24 June 1979[40]	See Cape Verde–Turkey relations The Turkish embassy in Dakar, Senegal is accredited to Cape Verde.[134] Trade volume between the two countries was $9.5 million in 2019.[134]
Ukraine	25 March 1992[65]	Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 March 1992[135] Ukraine is represented in Cape-Verde by its embassy in Dakar, Senegal.[136]
United States	19 July 1975[9]	See Cape Verde–United States relations The United States provided emergency humanitarian aid and economic assistance to Cape Verde in the period immediately following Cape Verde's independence, as well as after natural disasters, including a hurricane that struck the island of Brava in 1982, and after a severe volcanic eruption on Fogo in 1995. Cape Verde also is eligible for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and has signed an Open Skies agreement to facilitate air travel safety and expansion. On July 4, 2005, Cape Verde became the third country to sign a compact with the U.S. Government-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC); the five-year assistance package is worth over $110 million in addressing rural economic expansion, infrastructure development, and development of the credit sector. Cape Verde has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and a consulate in Boston.[128] United States has an embassy in Praia.[137]  This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.

Multilateral Relations

European Union

Main article: Cape Verde - European Union relations

See also

• List of diplomatic missions in Cape Verde
• List of diplomatic missions of Cape Verde
• International organization membership of Cape Verde
• International recognition of Cape Verde