• Sao Tome and Principe is colonized by the Portuguese and soon becomes a staging post for slave trade.
  • Sao Tome and Principe becomes one of the world's main cocoa producers.
  • Sao Tome becomes an overseas province of Portugal.

  • Sao Tome and Principe gains its independence from Portugal. Strong ties are built with communist countries.
  • As the economy deteriorates, the government reduces links with communist countries, declares itself to be nonaligned, and seeks support for recovery from Western countries.

  • The Sao Tome and Principe government announces plans for a United States naval base in the country, which would serve to protect Sao Tome and Principe's oil interests.
  • Oil companies bid for offshore oil blocs that are controlled by Sao Tome and Nigeria, these bids are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars of licensure money for Sao Tome and Principe.

  • Sao Tome and Principe and Nigeria jointly sign their first offshore oil exploration and production-sharing agreement with international oil firms.

  • The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund forgive debt worth $360 million owed by Sao Tome and Principe, which represents about 90% of the country's foreign debt.

Sources:

BBC News open_in_new
Britannica open_in_new