Sao Tome & Principe
Co-operation relations between Portugal and Sao Tome & Principe
General information
Official name: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe
Capital: São Tomé.
President: Carlos Vila Nova
Prime-Minister: Jorge Lopes Bom Jesus (since December 2018)
Independence Day: 12 July 1975
Districts: The São Tomé island is comprised of 6 districts: Água Grande, Cantagalo, Caué, Lembá, Lobata and Mé-Zóchi; the Autonomous
Príncipe Region contains the district of Pagué
Languages: Portuguese (official) and local languages (Forro, Angolar and Lunguye)
Religion: Catholic (82%)
Geography
Geographical Area: 1001 km2 (Gulf of Guinea, West Africa)
Climate: Equatorial
Demography
Area: 997 k2 (2020, Banco de Portugal)
Population: 219 mil hab. (2020, Banco de Portugal)
Average rate of population growth: 1.66% (2018, CIA, Word Factbook, est)
Life expectancy at birth: 70.2 years (2018, UNDP)
Birth rate: 31.5 per 1,000 inhabitants. (estimated in 2018)
Death rate: 6.7 per 1,000 inhabitants (estimated in 2018)
Literacy rate (adults, 15 and over): 69,5 % (2013, UNDP)
Primary education enrolment rate: 84.9% (2018, IDH-PNUD)
Human development index: 138 position (2018, UNDP)
Economic data
Currency: Dobra (1€= 24 500 STD) paridade fixa desde 1 janeiro 2010.
GNP per Capita: 1 569 USD (2017, AICEP)
Inflation rate: 5.2% (2017, AICEP)
Unemployment rate: 13,0% (2013, INESTP)
Growth rate: 4,0% (2017, AICEP)
Main exports: Cocoa, machinery and equipment, fruit and spices (2017, AICEP)
Exports - Portugal: 81.3 million € (2017, AICEP)
Imports - Portugal: 23.5 million € (2017, AICEP)
Direct Portuguese investment: 2.5 million euro (2017, AICEP)
Other information
Portuguese Embassy in Sao Tome
Ambassador: Rui Carmo
Address: Avenida Marginal 12 de julho
Caixa Postal 173, S. Tomé
Tel.: (+239) 222 11 30 / 222 49 97
Fax: (+258) 222 11 90
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Attaché/Co-operation contact: Paula Pereira
Tel. (+239) 222 497 4
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tomé & Principe in Lisbon
Ambassador: António Quinas do Espírito Santo
Address: Avenida 5 de Outubro, nº 35, 4º Andar
1050-047 Lisboa
Tel.: (+351) 21 846 19 17/8
Fax: (+351) 21 846 18 95
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Current situation
General framework
Strategic Co-operation Programme
Strategic Co-operation Programme (SCP) 2016-2020. Signed by both countries on the 7th of September with a financial envelope of 57.5M€, this new programme involves a greater concentration of funds in the areas of education, health and social protection, extending to military training, police co-operation and justice.
Strategic Co-operation Programme 2016-2020
Indicative Co-operation Programme
Indicative Co-operation Programme Portugal - Sao Tome & Principe 2012-2015
Indicative Co-operation Programme 2012-2015. This programme covers a period of four years (2012--2015). It was signed in Lisbon on the 27th of November 2013 by the Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Rui Machete and by the Sao Tome & Principe Minister of Foreign Affairs, Co-operation and Communities. With a financial envelope of €43.5m, this programme is primarily focused on co-operation for good governance, participation and democracy, sustainable development and the fight against poverty.
Indicative Co-operation Programme Portugal - Sao Tome & Principe 2008-2011
Co-operation in Numbers
Portuguese Official Development Assistance to S. Tome & Principe 2015-2019
In 2015, Portuguese net ODA to S. Tome & Principe registered a notable increase compared to the previous three years, standing at 23M€, mainly due to the concessional loan for electrical infrastructures, aimed for projects in the areas of construction and rehabilitation of electricity network. In 2016-17, ODA come again near the average values of recent years, mainly due to the final use of the concessional credit line for road and electrical infrastructures and to the decrease in costs for partner patients’ health treatments in Portugal, stabilizing in a 12M€/year average. Between 2015-19 the average net ODA stood at 14,16M€.
Between 2015-19, the sector group Other Infrastructures and Social Services centralized the largest share of aid (62%), through projects in the areas of Education, Health and Water and Sanitation. The group Other Infrastructures and Economic Services accounted for 23%, particularly due to the weight of the Energy sector (2015-17) in result of the concessional loan for electrical infrastructures, and the Transport sector (2018-19), owing to the Portuguese Navy Support Mission for inspection of maritime areas and training of the country's Coast Guard. In 2019, to be noted sectors Agriculture with the project for Support the Agricultural Export Lines of S. Tomé, and Fishing with the Sustainable Fishing Co-Management project in the South of S.Tomé Island.
Projects