This policy analysis examines the role of Cape Verdean higher education in fostering an endogenous, critical knowledge base within African Studies, addressing the tension between decolonial aspirations and persistent epistemic dependencies. It investigates how national policies and institutional practices between 2021 and 2024 shape knowledge production relevant to the archipelago’s specific developmental context. The study employs a rigorous qualitative methodology, comprising a critical document analysis of national strategic frameworks, university statutes, and curated research outputs, complemented by semi-structured interviews with twelve purposively sampled academic and policy stakeholders. Thematic analysis of this data reveals a pronounced policy-practice gap. While policy rhetoric champions locally-grounded knowledge and *Cabo-verdianidade*, institutional incentives, curricular structures, and research evaluation often remain aligned with Eurocentric paradigms, thereby marginalising Lusophone African perspectives. This disconnect, the analysis argues, constrains the university’s potential as a catalyst for transformative development rooted in African intellectual agency. The study contributes to scholarly debates on decoloniality in African higher education by providing a focused, empirical case study of Cape Verde. It concludes with targeted recommendations for policymakers and academic leaders, including reforming research incentives to privilege community-engaged scholarship, integrating Creole epistemologies into curricula, and strengthening pan-African scholarly networks to re-centre the university as a sovereign site for pertinent knowledge.