country profile

Cabo Verde

Sub-Saharan AfricaLower middle income527K population

Last updated August 4, 2026

Emerging readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Infrastructure is a strength, but Access & Parity lags

Cabo Verde demonstrates early-stage readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (35th percentile worldwide). Investments are generating initial gains, yet substantial gaps persist in several dimensions.

49.06Composite score

Global percentile: 35th
Global rank: #116
Regional rank: #7
Viewing data for

Progressing readiness

Infrastructure

74.60

46th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44

Progressing readiness

Human Capital

63.35

39th percentileGlobal avg. 66.18

Critically unprepared

Innovation

27.19

11th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64

Progressing readiness

Governance

62.45

76th percentileGlobal avg. 47.07

Critically unprepared

Access & Parity

17.73

19th percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Cabo Verde remains in the emerging-readiness range, with progress visible but major gaps still limiting future readiness. Its weakest results are in Innovation (27, 11th percentile) and School Access and Gender Parity (18, 19th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Wide gaps between dimensions reveal structural weaknesses that slow coordinated progress. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Human Capital presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, Cabo Verde leads most clearly in Governance, sitting well above the peer average.

Some indicators are imputed, so the profile should be read with moderate caution.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 35th percentile.

Places 116th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 7th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (74.6) to Access & Parity (17.7), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Governance.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rank	Regional rank	Country	Score
61	1	Mauritius	69.13
67	2	South Africa	68.78
—	—	SeychellesMicrostate	64.14
86	3	Botswana	63.01
97	4	Namibia	59.03
100	5	Ghana	58.00
115	6	Eswatini	49.17
116	7	Cabo Verde	49.06
123	8	Rwanda	44.81
127	9	Gambia, The	43.01
128	10	Kenya	42.93
129	11	Senegal	42.87
130	12	Gabon	42.59
132	13	Equatorial Guinea	41.26
133	14	Cote d'Ivoire	41.19
139	15	Zambia	38.11
140	16	Lesotho	37.98
—	—	Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate	37.69
141	17	Togo	37.61
144	18	Benin	36.56
145	19	Zimbabwe	36.55
146	20	Tanzania	35.55
147	21	CameroonFCS	35.16
149	22	Mauritania	34.17
150	23	Sierra Leone	33.62
151	24	ComorosFCS	33.36
152	25	Burkina FasoFCS	32.56
153	26	Congo, Rep.FCS	32.39
154	27	Uganda	32.27
155	28	Angola	32.18
157	29	NigeriaFCS	31.67
158	30	MozambiqueFCS	30.55
159	31	MalawiFCS	30.35
160	32	EthiopiaFCS	30.26
161	33	MaliFCS	29.69
162	34	Madagascar	29.63
164	35	Guinea	28.36
165	36	Guinea-BissauFCS	28.36
168	37	Liberia	24.94
169	38	NigerFCS	24.54
170	39	Burundi	24.53
171	40	Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS	24.39
172	41	SudanFCS	23.03
173	42	EritreaFCS	21.02
174	43	ChadFCS	20.62
175	44	Central African RepublicFCS	20.44
176	45	SomaliaFCS	20.32
177	46	South SudanFCS	18.91