The prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe, Patrice Trovoada, has thanked Portugal for the promise of 15 million euros in aid, which is intended to “significantly alleviate” the “deplorable” financial situation of the West African archipelago.
Speaking on his return to São Tomé after trips to Portugal and the US, Trovoada said: “All São Tomeans have to congratulate ourselves on the attitude of Portugal which has perfectly understood the situation in which São Tomé and Principe finds itself, especially from the financial point of view. Portugal has decided to support our country with 15 million euros, which will significantly ease the situation.”
Portugal’s donation to the Portuguese-speaking country – its former colony – is to help deal with an economic crisis, the government in Lisbon announced last Thursday.
The offer came after Trovoada’s visit to Lisbon this month, when he said that the archipelago was facing a “critical moment” in economic terms, and noted that aid decisions “are not taken without consulting” the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The fact that Portugal was able to go ahead with this donation means that the IMF had no objections,” he stressed.
The prime minister said that discussions were underway to sign a new agreement with the IMF in February next year, after it suspended talks with São Tomé, citing the “derailing” of targets and non-implementation of reforms by the previous government, led by Jorge Bom Jesus.
“We are going to accelerate our efforts so that by February we can have a new agreement with the IMF which will allow us to resume support for our country,” said Trovoada.
He also said that on the sidelines of his participation in last week’s US-Africa summit in Washington, he had also had meetings with several international agencies and that “there is a sign of confidence” towards his government. But he reaffirmed that the country needs stability and to continue to work harder.
“We are going to go through a difficult period – we have no way of avoiding it– we are going to have to take difficult measures, because we were left with a country in a sorry situation, but there is confidence,” he said.
Last week, the prime minister travelled to Angola to meet its president, João Lourenço, to continue talks that began on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit.
Trovoada said he is very happy that Angola has demonstrated willingness to help São Tomé and Principe.
“I also think that this was also an opportunity for us to look at our economic and financial cooperation, and the issues linked to fuel supplies, which are urgent matters,” Trovoada said.
“We want Angola to take us to another level in which commitments on both sides are respected, knowing of course the situation in São Tomé and Principe.”
