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

Abstract

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.