Sao Tome & Principe

Alert has been working directly in Sao Tome and Principe since 2004, with the aim of strengthening institutions and building the capacity of the media, parliamentarians and NGOs so that they are equipped to prepare for, respond to and manage the forthcoming oil revenues – thereby preventing conflict. In order to achieve this we are working closely with the Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs (FONG), the media and parliamentarians.

Working with the media

A vigorous and professional mass media that can scrutinise and question government decisions is an essential cornerstone of a free and open society. Strengthening journalists' capacity and independence is vital to ensuring transparency, accountability, respect for the rule of law and good governance.

The media in STP are relatively underdeveloped. The government controls all radio and television except the Portuguese-run channels from Lisbon and the Voice of America radio station which has its regional transmission centre on STP.

Alert’s work in STP began in September 2004; since then a media centre has been set up which will serve as a training and research centre. A series of trainings has been facilitated by Alert on mass media and society, the ethics of journalism and media law, and more specific courses on oil-related issues such as transparency and scrutiny, specialist oil reporting, and investigative reporting.

Working with civil society

Non-governmental organisations in STP suffer from many of the same weaknesses as the media – and so there are few NGOs that feel able to influence the direction of government policy. FONG, the Association of STP NGOs, was established with the aim of addressing these weaknesses by supporting the growth of individual organisations and providing a platform for collective lobbying and advocacy. Its members come from many of the strongest local organisations on the two islands and is therefore well connected to the needs and concerns of the people.

Not surprisingly, there is little awareness amongst FONG members either of the potential impacts of oil on STP or of the role of civil society in influencing the country’s approach to natural resource management. Alert’s support for FONG concentrates on increasing its members’ awareness of the impact of oil and enabling them to work as a monitoring/pressure group to press for adherence to international policy; the facilitation of two-way flows of information between people and government; and advocacy for directing oil revenues towards social development. An ‘oil unit’ has been set up within FONG’s offices which will serve as a resource centre and a focal point for bringing NGOs together to work on ways of approaching the issue. We had a second meeting that brought together a cross-section of people from rural communities and civil society to start talking about what oil will mean for them in the future.

Alert is planning a public awareness campaign designed to increase knowledge and understanding of oil issues throughout the two islands. This will take the form of a countrywide media campaign with government representatives and civil society activists ready to answer questions. The conducting the awareness campaign will familiarise FONG with the issues, and the public awareness campaign will provide FONG with an insight into attitudes amongst the wider population.

Working with parliamentarians

The national parliament is one of the most vibrant institutions on STP. As a scrutinising body it has much potential and is well positioned to hold government to account. It has a central role to play in drafting legislation and scrutinising bills put forward by the government, as well as in overseeing the budget. Our work with parliamentarians is therefore aimed at increasing their capacity to do this.

A group of parliamentarians has been convened and has started a programme of training on oil and transparency issues and ways of reviewing and supervising state budgets and expenditure. We are planning a study trip to Norway in order to provide an insight into drafting laws on oil and resources, as well as the role of parliament in scrutinising and monitoring resource flows in a democracy.

The conflict context: countering the conflict impact of oil

The links between the extraction of natural resources (eg. oil, gas, diamonds) and conflict have been harshly demonstrated over the past few decades, particularly in Africa. The Niger Delta, Sudan and Angola have bitter experience of the negative impacts of oil production and these problems are beginning to be shared by emerging oil producers such as Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and Sao Tome and Principe.

Oil production in Sao Tome and Principe is set to provide the government with unprecedented financial resources when it begins in 2007. If this revenue is harnessed for the common good, the population of 140,000 could benefit greatly. However, the country has already had early warning of how poor management of oil revenues could pose real threats to the stability of this relatively peaceful nation – the oil factor was a feature of the military coup in July 2003.

International Alert is well placed to attempt to address these threats, having learned much about the problems of oil extraction through our work in the Niger Delta and elsewhere (Azerbaijan and the Southern Caucasus) and through our policy work with many large gas and oil companies.

During visits to Sao Tome and Principe before and after the coup, government ministers, international organisations and local groups all raised a common concern – that the country was ill-equipped to counter the potentially negative impact of oil production. Parliamentarians said that because of their lack of knowledge about the oil issue they would be unable to draft informed and responsible legislation necessary to control its impact. Their concerns were heightened by the high level of expectation from the population about the financial benefits that the oil would bring – which they thought was unrealistic, with the potential to breed conflict. People from the severely underdeveloped island of Principe felt alienated and ignored by the government in Sao Tome. Their comments that ‘the oil is ours’, because it is situated in Principe waters was a worrying echo of similar attitudes in Nigeria and Angola that have led to secessionist movements and conflict.

There is a window of opportunity in Sao Tome and Principe at the moment. The harsh lessons learned from many other oil producer states could be put to good use. If oil production is managed well, and local people are connected to policy makers, then it should be possible both to prevent conflict and to develop a template for managing oil revenues that could be usefully applied in other emergent oil producing countries.

For more information, contact Mohamed Yahya

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Last updated: February 2007