São Tomé and Príncipe: 12 oil ministers since 1999, but not a single drop of oil yet

In 1999, Luís dos Prazeres “Kapala”, a Nigerian-trained airline pilot and, since its inauguration in 2004, the executive director of São Tomé and Príncipe’s National Oil Agency (ANP), became the country’s first minister of natural resources. Since then, the small country has had another eleven ministers in charge of the oil portfolio

São Tomé and Príncipe: Particularities of the presidential party

Portuguese constitutionalists were divided about the question of whether the election of President Fradique de Menezes as leader of the Democratic Movement Force of Change (MDFM) party on 19 December was unconstitutional or not

Lusophone countries ready to accept Obiang dictatorship

Contrary to the Commonwealth (54 member states) and La Francophonie (56 member states), which include countries whose official language is not the language of the former colonial power, for membership of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) Portuguese as official language is a prerequisite sine qua non. Therefore, when in 2002 Timor Leste became the CPLP’s eigth member, the Lusophone community seemed complete

São Tomé and Príncipe: in the third attempt and after twenty years, a former autocrat returns to the presidency

On August 7th, in the run-off for the presidential elections, seventy-five years old Manuel Pinto da Costa, the country’s first post-independence President, defeated candidate for the ruling Independent Democratic Action (ADI) Evaristo Carvalho (sixty-nine years old), with 52.9% of the votes against 47.1%. Pinto da Costa has become one of several formear African authoritarian rulers who, after departure from power, came back to the presidential palace several years later through the ballot box. Like Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pinto da Costa returned to the presidency after a lean period of twenty years becoming his country’s third democratically elected President, succeeding Miguel Trovoada (1991- 2001) and Fradique de Menezes (2001-2011)

Surging São Tomé: Waiting for Oil in the Gulf of Guinea

A two-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe is Africa's second-smallest country, with population of 187,000. It is a peaceful Creole society without ethnic, religious, or linguistic cleavages. Yet and Príncipe is an impoverished country -- as of 2011, it possessed the world's third smallest national economy, its GDP per capita was just $1,473

São Tomé and Príncipe: Political Instability Continues

The recent political crisis provoked by the controversial dismissal of Patrice Trovoada’s minority government by a censure motion has again drawn the attention to politics in this small impoverished African island republic that has been marked by political instability since the introduction of a democratic constitution based on the Portuguese semi-presidential regime in 1990. Following the end of Miguel Trovoada’s ten-year presidency in 2001 his son Patrice has become one of the principal political competitors in São Tomé and Príncipe, while his father retired from national politics and, in 2009 has become executive secretary of the Gulf of Guinea Commission

São Tomé and Príncipe in 2011: Again Waiting for Better Times, With a New Old President

After 20 lean years, Manuel Pinto da Costa, the country’s first President after independence (1975-1991), returned to office in early August. He owed his victory to the absence of a charismatic rival candidate and a traditional electoral preference to have a Prime Minister and President from different parties. In the oil sector new hopes have been set on Joint Development Zone (JDZ) Block 1, while exploration drillings in JDZ Blocks 2, 3 and 4 and the first licensing round of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) provided disappointing results. The concession of the port and airport to Sonangol reinforced the archipelago’s dependence on Angola. So far the Trovoada government’s efforts to secure financing from Arab Sovereign Wealth Funds for the construction of a deep-sea port by a French consortium have failed. Problems around foreign investments in ecotourism in Príncipe provoked tensions between the island’s Regional Government and the Trovoada government

20 years on São Tomé and Príncipe has voted again for “change”

In December 1989, São Tomé and Príncipe was the first African one-party state to hold a National Conference and decide on a transition to multiparty democracy. On January 20th 1991, the archipelago was the second African country – after Cape Verde a week prior – to hold democratic elections. Since then, both legislative and presidential elections have been organized regularly and peacefully. All these elections – financed by foreign donors – have been considered by international observers as free, fair and transparent

São Tomé and Príncipe in 2010: promises and disappointments

The 2010 legislative elections have resulted in a change of government. The new government headed by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada promised “change”. Given the small country’s weak economy and excessive dependence on external financing, the government has adapted foreign policies in an attempt to obtain aid and investment from additional countries. At the same time the oil sector has again disappointed and is unlikely to produce any revenue in the near future

Brazil in Africa: Ambitions and Achievements of an Emerging Regional Power in the Political and Economic Sector

Thanks to Brazil’s geographic and demographic size and steady economic growth in recent years, the country has succeeded in consolidating its position as an emerging middle power in the international political system. The strengthening of south-south cooperation in general and the renewal of relations with Africa in particular are integral parts of Brazil’s political ambitions in a new global context. President Lula da Silva’s (2003-2010) many visits to African countries and the significant increase in the number of Brazilian embassies in Africa reflect the importance of the continent as part of Brazil’s new global foreign policies. The considerable growth in trade with African countries over the last decade is another proof of increasing Brazilian interest in Africa. This paper examines the development of relations between Brazil and Africa at political and diplomatic, commercial and development cooperation level in the last decade