[1] Incumbent President Jorge Carlos Fonseca of the Movement for Democracy (MpD) was re-elected with 74% of the vote.

[2][3] Jorge Carlos Fonseca was looking to secure his second term and was the favourite to win as the main opposition party the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) failed to present a candidate after their disappointing loss in the parliamentary elections in March and municipal elections in September.

Fonseca, representing the MpD, faced two independent candidates, Joaquim Monteiro and Albertino Graça.

[4] Campaigning was temporarily suspended on 22 September following the death of the country's ex-president António Mascarenhas Monteiro.

[5] Monteiro was the country's first democratically elected president and was also a member of the MpD.