The President of the African Centre for Development Research consulted for the West African Civil Society Institute to assess the public health system preparedness of Ghana and Cape Verde in responding to the health emergency (COVID-19) and the capacity to effectively respond to future pandemics. The study used WHO’s Strategic Framework for Emergency Preparedness document as the main reference. Based on the framework and its core components, i.e. governance, capacities and resources, a qualitative policy document analysis or review was done as well as a thorough desk review of all other available secondary data sources. This was complemented with stakeholder interviews to clarify issues, provide information on implementation gaps as well as information on health emergency preparedness that could not be obtained from document review and explore possible recommendations