Cape Verde votes for new president

Polls in Cape Verde closed yesterday in a ballot to choose a new president, after a contest marked by debate over the future for the tiny west African nation battered by the Covid-driven slump in global tourism.

Prior to the pandemic, visitors accounted for a quarter of the economy for the volcanic archipelago, a former Portuguese colony of half a million inhabitants lauded for its stable government and smooth democratic transitions of power.

GDP shrank by 14.8 per cent last year and many hotels and restaurants closed as Covid fears kept hundreds of thousands of visitors away.