Sao Tome & Principe

The Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a lower middle income, small island state with a surface area of 1,001km2 located in the Gulf of Guinea, 350km off the west coast of Africa. This Portuguese-speaking country has a population of approximately 225,000, a GDP of US$678m.
It’s currency is the Dobra.

Growth is expected to increase to 3.1 in 2025 and reach nearly 3.6% by 2026, supported by higher tourism arrivals, a strong agricultural sector, and the expansion of infrastructure development projects and energy reforms.

Sao Tome and Principe has been a multiparty, semi-presidential, democratic system since its independence, and it has been a model for the democratic transition of power in Central Africa. The Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party, which holds 30 out of 55 parliamentary seats, has been mandated to govern from 2022 to 2026.

The economy has historically relied on the production and exportation of cocoa, and to a lesser extent coconut, for foreign exchange earnings. Local agricultural production is unable to meet the nutritional requirements of the local population. Economic opportunities relating to island tourism and the development of the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Guinea, are expected to help drive improvements in quality of life. While significant deposits have yet to be discovered, several companies are exploring, including a consortium of BP and Kosmos Energy.

Much of the total agricultural area of the two islands belongs to the state. Until 1993 this land was divided into 15 large plantation enterprises, but, by the end of the decade, most of the former plantations were dissolved and their land distributed to smallholders and medium-sized enterprises on a usufruct basis as part of attempted agricultural reform. High levels of unemployment coexist with a critical labour shortage on the former plantations, where wages and working conditions are poor.

Sao Tome and Principe has been a multiparty, semi-presidential, democratic system since its independence, and it has been a model for the democratic transition of power in Central Africa. The Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party, which holds 30 out of 55 parliamentary seats, has been mandated to govern from 2022 to 2026.

The economy has historically relied on the production and exportation of cocoa, and to a lesser extent coconut, for foreign exchange earnings. Local agricultural production is unable to meet the nutritional requirements of the local population. Economic opportunities relating to island tourism and the development of the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Guinea, are expected to help drive improvements in quality of life. While significant deposits have yet to be discovered, several companies are exploring, including a consortium of BP and Kosmos Energy.


Sources: Who Owns Whom sector reports, CIA Factbook, African Development Bank, World Bank, Trading Economics, African Statistical Yearbook and IMF. ?>