Washington, April 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The minister of the economy and finance of São Tomé and Príncipe told Lusa that the country wants to turn the trade war that is intensifying in the world into opportunities, recognising the possibility of becoming a "refuge" for foreign investors.

"There are always opportunities" and São Tomé and Príncipe wants to make the most of them, in the event of trade wars or “actual wars”, Gareth Guadalupe said on Wednesday in an interview with Lusa in Washington, where he is attending the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"At the precipice of a new world political order, people usually tend to look for peaceful countries, such as São Tomé, to make their investments there, because countries like the United States, for example, don't give them such guarantees. São Tomé and Príncipe is positioned as a friendly country for everyone, a country with a very interesting geostrategic position," he said.

Although the trade war intensified after US President Donald Trump announced global tariffs, the government of São Tomé and Príncipe downplayed the impact of the 10% tariff on its exports to the United States (US), estimating that "it won't be a problem for the economy" of the African country.

"Our foreign currency does not depend on what we export to the United States," said the minister of the economy and finance.

Keeping a positive outlook on the world stage, Gareth Guadalupe sees opportunities where many leaders see despair, and is considering putting in place a "citizenship by investment" project.

"It could be an opportunity for investors. A lot of investors today are looking for opportunities, even to have a safe house, so to speak. A place where they know they have a home, but that home gives them guarantees of property rights, where they can make an investment," he said.

Like Portugal, which had "golden visas", São Tomé and Príncipe wants to explore "citizenship by investment".

"We're looking into the possibility of exploring citizenship by investment. There are several interested partners, but we have to work on our legal framework so that it is properly framed and permitted, and we want this process to be totally transparent. So we're going to keep talking to the partners and see what the possibilities are in this regard," he told Lusa.

"Another thing that we may benefit from with the trade war, as it was during the pandemic, is that we're talking about a country like the US, which is one of the world's biggest consumers, it's a ‘price maker’ in terms of international prices. In this sense, the trade war could open up opportunities for lower fuel prices. As long as we don't make the energy transition, we can benefit from lower fuel prices," he noted.

Although he recognises that the US has never been a traditional partner of São Tomé and Príncipe, Gareth Guadalupe does not rule out the possibility of his country being negatively affected by the global situation, namely through ‘imported inflation’

"The negative impact we could have would be due to the many trade transactions we have with Europe. Naturally, when Europe enters this trade war, we could indirectly have this impact in terms of rising prices in Europe, which could then translate into imported inflation for São Tomé and Príncipe," he explained.

"We're not just talking about the imminence of a trade war, but also the imminence of an actual war that could spread to Europe. And in times of war, there is usually a recession. We wouldn't want there to be a war, but we do want - whenever there are opportunities - to try to take advantage of them," the minister emphasised, also stressing the need to ensure food security in the event of a worsening situation.

With a view to seizing opportunities and attracting as many investors as possible, the São Toméan government wants to carry out a harbour project, including a fish terminal and a cargo terminal, which will also serve the Gulf of Guinea sub-region, as well as connecting to the South American regional bloc Mercosur from Brazil.

"We're talking about a friendly country [Brazil], a country that speaks the same language as us. We could now take advantage of this trade war to see how we can develop new strategies with other countries and even carry out what is called the ‘Global South’, in other words, co-operation between the countries of the South. But not forgetting to take advantage of this route to connect Europe, the southern part of Africa and the South American continent," he added.

MYMM/AYLS // AYLS

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