Construction of the new São Tomé hospital will begin in 2026 and will cost 32 million euros.

27Construction work on São Tomé's future reference hospital will begin in 2026, financed by the Kuwait Fund and the Arab African Development Bank (BADEA), and will cost 37 million dollars (32 million euros), the Government announced today.

"We already have the full commitment of BADEA to complete the 37 million for the total cost of the project," emphasized the Minister of State, Economy and Finance of São Tomé and Príncipe, Gareth Guadalupe, at the end of a week of negotiations with representatives of the Kuwait Fund and BADEA.

According to the minister, the 37 million dollars will be allocated to works, acquisition of equipment and training of human resources, and of the total amount, BADEA will ensure around 18 million dollars, the Kuwait Fund 16.44 million dollars and the São Tomé State around 2.5 million dollars.

Gareth Guadalupe signed today a memorandum of understanding and addendum to the loan agreement with the representative of the Kuwait Fund, stating that it has now been defined that the amounts will not be transferred to the São Tomé State account, and that the expenses for the execution of the project will be paid directly by the Kuwait Fund.

"We don't need to have the funds with us; what we need is to have the hospital fully equipped," the minister emphasized, urging that politics not be played out with this project.

Gareth Guadalupe said that construction should begin in the first quarter of 2026, but in the next two weeks the Government will begin work to ensure the exclusive supply of energy, water and fiber optic internet for the services of the new hospital, which will include a hemodialysis unit.

The initial project conceived in 2016 envisaged the rehabilitation of the current Ayres de Menezes Hospital in São Tomé, with the São Tomé Government signing a loan agreement with the Kuwait Fund worth US$17 million for this purpose.

The signing of the loan agreement generated controversy in the country, and with the change of Government in 2018 led to the preventive arrest of the current São Tomé Prime Minister, Américo Ramos, who at the time signed the agreement as Minister of Finance in the Government of former Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada (2018-2018).

The executive of former Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus (2018-2022) restructured the project and the value rose at the time to around 32 million dollars, without the works having started.

The current executive led by Américo Ramos, sworn in in January, opted for the construction of the new hospital, in the Ferreira Governo area, in the Lobata district, which he defined as his “main flag”.