Sao Tome

São Tomé is the national capital and the archipelago’s largest urban concentration, spreading around Ana Chaves Bay and along the coastal roads that connect the city with settlements to the north and south. Rapid, often weakly planned expansion has placed pressure on drainage, water supply, waste management and housing.

The country’s 2022 sustainable-development review identifies these basic urban services as persistent weaknesses, including in the capital. Transport investment is now reshaping the city’s wider corridor: rehabilitation of the EN1 from São Tomé toward Guadalupe and Neves adds drainage, sidewalks and road-safety measures, while the next resilience programme also targets vulnerable coastal routes. Because so much movement and economic activity depends on these roads, improving the capital requires treating streets, drainage and coastal protection as one connected urban system.