Following the legislative elections on May 17 and the presidential election on November 15, 2026, what challenges lie ahead for Cape Verde? As part of its “Hors-champ” series, MansA invites journalist Léa Mormin-Chauvac and political scientist Ève Gianoncelli to discuss the political and socioeconomic dynamics currently shaping the archipelago.
A few days after the presidential election, this event offers an opportunity to look back on the 2026 election cycle and examine the issues that are emerging for the coming years.
How do the May legislative elections and the November presidential election fit into Cape Verde’s recent political history? What political balance of power is emerging in the wake of these two elections? Beyond the electoral calendar, what are the main challenges facing the country?
Featuring Léa Mormin-Chauvac and Ève Gianoncelli, the discussion will focus in particular on issues related to employment, health, and education; inequalities among the islands; and challenges associated with an economy heavily dependent on tourism. The role of the diaspora and remittances, as well as the relationships between the various islands of the archipelago, will also be among the topics explored.
Léa Mormin-Chauvac is a journalist, screenwriter, and author. Having worked at Libération and France Culture, she is a member of the editorial board of the feminist quarterly La Déferlante. She is the co-author of the documentary *Les Sœurs Nardal, les oubliées de la négritude* (Morgane Productions, 2023) and of a biography of the Martinican sisters published by Éditions Autrement in 2024.
Ève Gianoncelli is a political scientist, holds a Ph.D. from Paris 8 University, teaches at EHESS, and is a research associate at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science (CESSP). Her research lies at the intersection of intellectual history, political theory, and gender studies. She has focused in particular on the trajectories of female intellectuals inthe 20th century, including Paulette Nardal, Claude Cahun, and Viola Klein. Together with Brent Hayes Edwards, she co-edited *Écrire le monde noir* (2024), an anthology of Paulette Nardal’s early writings.
