Cape Verde sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.

Cape Verde was represented by two athletes in Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Gracelino Barbosa and javelin thrower Márcio Fernandes, who qualified for the Games by meeting the qualification standards of their events.

[3] Cape Verde sent two athletes to Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Gracelino Barbosa and javelin thrower Márcio Fernandes.

[11][12] Barbosa qualified for the Games because of his sixth-place finish and personal best time of 50.55 seconds in the men's 400 metres event at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in October that year.

[1] In an interview before the Paralympics, he stated that his hope was to achieve a good performance in Rio de Janeiro and was confident over improving his personal best time, "Any athlete has the ambition to get on the podium and I do not escape the rule and I want to get there very strong.

[10] At the age of ten in 1994, Márcio Fernandes was involved in a car accident which resulted in the amputation of his left leg and has used a prosthetic since.

[19][20] Fernandes spent time training in London, Portugal and Cape Verde as part of his preparation for the Paralympics.

[1][19] Before the Paralympics, he said he believed in his potential and stated he would perform to the best of his ability, "Expectations are high, I was world champion last year and it's normal for people to want to repeat every success.