Project Summary

Project General Description

The Zuntámon Lusophone Compact Initiative – Phase I Project aligns with São Tomé and Príncipe’s Vision 2030, which aims to promote national cohesion, macroeconomic stability, climate change resilience as well as improved governance for private sector-driven inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The Project will focus its interventions on commodities and services where women and youth are economically active, such as tourism, and that have growth potential through export, namely: cocoa, coconut, horticulture products, and fish. The focus on the aforementioned commodities and services is in line with the Government of STP’s COVID-19 post-pandemic economic recovery strategies, which place great emphasis on supporting affected businesses and bolstering the recovery in key industries such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and hospitality. The Zuntámon Initiative is therefore a solution that seeks to unblock certain countryspecific bottlenecks to private sector-led growth, while contributing towards a more resilient economy. The Project estimated at UA 7.50 million and fully funded by the ADF will focus on both islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. It will be implemented over a four-year period.

Project Objectives

The goal of this Project is to improve the business environment, capacity, and access to markets and finance for SMEs, and therefore their contribution to the economy and job creation. The specific objectives are to: (i) Enhance institutional and administrative capacity to be more effective in meeting the needs of STP’s private sector and attract foreign investments; (ii) Establish the governance and operational structures for improving STP’s business environment; (iii) Build the capacity of SMEs in growing their businesses and their readiness for financing, including women and youth-led SMEs; (iv) Unlock key value chain efficiency and quality constraints; and (v) Establish the structures and financing to provide quality and affordable access to finance for SMEs.

Beneficiaries

The expected final beneficiaries are 60 SMEs, especially women and youthled businesses (30% of target, respectively). Additionally, the project will have an impact on STP’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by building the capacity of the three (3) leading business associations supporting key segments of STP’s private sector population, women and youth. Enhancing the efficiency of the commercial justice system paired with the introduction of a FFM to the STP market, the financial sector will also be strengthened, including the type of innovative financial instruments to help SMEs access affordable financing. Other beneficiaries include APCI, BCSTP, financial institutions and select business development service providers, who will benefit from capacity building to better carry out their core business of supporting the private sector, especially SMEs.

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