Yearbook 2004
São Tomé and Príncipe. The total population in Sao Tome and Principe is 219,170 people in 2020. Prime Minister Maria Das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa in March dismissed the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources for making important decisions without her approval. Both represented President Fradique de Meneze’s party MDFM, which became completely uninvolved in the government when two party mates resigned in solidarity with the dismissed. Six months later, Das Neves herself was dismissed, after she was suspected of being involved in embezzlement of aid money. Damião Vaz d’Almeida, who until then was Labor Minister, was appointed new Prime Minister. He, like the representative, belongs to the former state-carrying Socialist Party MLSTP.
The world’s interest in the small island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has increased significantly in recent years, as the country is soon expected to become a significant oil producer. Not least, the United States, which seeks to build strategic alliances in Africa, far from the turmoil in the Middle East, has formed close ties with São Tomé and Príncipe. Pursuing threats from the al-Qaeda terror network, the US has begun training the security forces in São Tomé and Príncipe. The United States also plans to build a deep harbor and expand the airport. Also France, South Africa, Portugal and Angola show a fresh interest in renovating São Tomé and Príncipe.