Sixteenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2019 covers 11 areas of business regulation.
... See More + Ten of these areas - starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency - are included in the ease of doing business score and ease of doing business ranking. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in these two measures. Doing Business provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. This economy profile presents indicators for Sao Tome and Principe; for 2019 Sao Tome and Principe ranks 170.
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São Tomé and Príncipe is classified as being in debt distress according to this joint World Bank-IMF low-income country debt sustainability analysis (DSA).
... See More + This assessment has changed from the previous DSA completed in December 2017 (high risk of external debt distress) due to the prolonged negotiations on rescheduling external arrears. Nonetheless, São Tomé and Príncipe’s debt ratios have improved since the previous DSA. Specifically, the ratio of the present value of public and publicly-guaranteed (PPG) external debt to gross domestic product (GDP) no longer exceeds its threshold under the baseline scenario, due to lower-than-expected loan disbursements in 2017, an appreciation of the euro vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar, and higher-than-expected GDP deflator growth. As in the previous DSA, the debt service ratios stay below their respective thresholds under almost all scenarios. Nevertheless, the ratios of the present value of debt to exports and to revenue still exceed their respective thresholds under the baseline scenario early in the projection period, though they decline over time. This DSA underscores the importance of lowering all PPG external debt indicators below their thresholds by continuing fiscal consolidation, eschewing non-concessional loans, promoting growth, and expanding the export base.
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The development objective of Social Protection and Skills Development Project for São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) is to support the development of an effective national safety net system for poor households and inclusive and labor market relevant skills development programs.
... See More + This project has four components. 1) The first component, Institutional and Capacity Strengthening, aims to strengthen the capacity of ministerial staff and institutions responsible for activities in the social protection and skills development sectors. It has the following subcomponents: (i) Building permanent delivery systems to implement social protection programs; and (ii) Strengthening governance and institutional capacity in the skills development sector. 2) The second component, Vulnerable Families Program Conditional Cash Transfer, aims to increase income and consumption of poor households participating in the Vulnerable Families Program (VFP) in STP, through the provision of regular cash transfers and accompanying measures including a PEP and skills training opportunities under the project. It has the following subcomponents: (i) Conditional Cash Transfer VFP; and (ii) Skills Training Opportunities Targeted to VFP Beneficiaries. 3) The third component, Employability of TVET graduates and youth, aims to support the development and delivery of quality training programs in STP, with a specific emphasis on skills development needs in the Tourism sector and developing entrepreneurial skills. It has the following subcomponents: (i) Establishing a National Hospitality and Tourism School; and (ii) Building entrepreneurial skills among secondary school students in STP. 4) The fourth component, Project Implementation Support, aims to directly finance the costs associated with the fiduciary management of the project and the staff required to oversee coordination across ministries and project Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E).
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The Adaptation to Climate Change for Sao Tome and Principe had a satisfactory outcome, satisfactory performance by the Bank and the monitoring and evaluation quality was modest.
... See More + The lessons learned were: (1) The complexity and multiple dimensions of the risks faced by local coastal communities and of the solutions to address them make it impossible and ineffective to try to anticipate and include predefined solutions in the project preparation. (2) This type of project has more chance to be successful if tailored communication approaches are used and if information tools are adapted to the level of understanding/education of their audience. (3) The involvement of the local community in the establishment of risk assessment maps allowed for the identification of the best suited adaptation options (including relocation, which was not initially considered by the project) and ensured ownership and a long term buy-in. (4) Eco-system based adaptation solutions are an efficient and cost-effective measure to reduce the risk of flooding, while retaining sediment to fight against erosion. (5) Adaptation requires long-term engagement to be effective. (6) Lessons, including those from failures, should be shared between countries facing similar challenges, as countries can learn efficiently from their peers.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4386 JUN 29, 2018
