São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment – World’s Cheapest CBI

Aug 16, 2025 | Residency & Citizenship by Investment

The tiny island nation of São Tomé and Principe is launching a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program, the cheapest in the world!

$90,000 + $5,000 submission fee for a single applicant
$95,000 + $5,000 submission fee for a family of four
an extra $5,000 per dependent

Dependents can be dependent children under the age of 30 or even parents above the age of 55.

This is now by far the cheapest CBI, taking the spot from the Vanuatu CBI.

Where is São Tomé and Príncipe?

São Tomé & Príncipe is mainly composed of two islands, in the Gulf of Guinea, between West and Central Africa. It has a population of less than 250,000 souls and lives off agricultural exports, some tourism (flights to Lisbon) and has the potential for large oil & gas discoveries but there has barely been any exploration yet.

My only experience with São Tomé & Príncipe was having booked a flight there 10 years ago from Ghana where I was working but then having to cancel due to work overload.

Importantly, it is a Lusophone country and member of the CPLP, which means easier immigration to, and faster citizenship in Portugal and Brazil.

However, while Sierra Leone’s CBI grants new citizens market access to the ECOWAS community of 430 million West Africans, the São Tomé CBI really only gives market access to São Tomé.

For now, I see this program having utility for:
– People who just want any passport as a plan B
– People from developing countries looking for a trampoline into Portugal and Brazil

In the video below I explain the key advantages of this program.

https://youtu.be/c-KseidN89g?si=flqxUdmj50nfHf_T

São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment – World's Cheapest CBI (https://youtu.be/c-KseidN89g?si=flqxUdmj50nfHf_T)

There are still some unknowns

– Does the program, like the Sierra Leone citizenship by investment program, accept crypto?
– Does this citizenship go down the generations?
– Does it offer remote bank account opening services, like Sierra Leone?

We are in touch with the citizenship unit of the government, will do our due diligence, and if we feel confident the Sao Tome citizenship by investment program will seriously materialize, then we will register as licensed agents.

Do let us know if we should keep you posted. We will always be ahead of the curve when it comes to opportunities in Africa.

On a personal note I am sitting in Miami airport waiting for our flight to Europe. I hadn’t been back to the US for quite a few years, and it’s always nice to be back for a bit. It’s now time to go enjoy the second half Summer in Europe.

To a World of Opportunities,

The Wandering Investor.

Ways to get Golden Visas and Citizenships by Investment:

Subscribe to the PRIVATE LIST below to not miss out on future investment posts, and follow me on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Telegram, Youtube, Facebook, and Rumble.

My favourite brokerage to invest in international stocks is IB. To find out more about this low-fee option with access to plenty of markets, click here.

If you want to discuss your internationalization and diversification plans, book a consulting session or send me an email.

Transcript of “São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment – World’s Cheapest CBI”

LADISLAS MAURICE: Exciting news from São Tomé, the small country off the coast of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, they are launching the world’s most affordable citizenship by investment program. We’re talking $90,000 for a single applicant, plus fees, or $95,000 for a family of four, plus fees, and each extra dependent is $5,000. Extremely attractive from a price point of view. It is way more affordable than the now second most affordable CBI, which is Vanuatu.

For people who just want a second passport, any second passport, and this is the market that they’re targeting, São Tomé is now the go-to destination. Obviously, it’s a poor travel document, you don’t buy it for the travel privileges.

São Tomé and Principe access to CPLP community

Having said this, because it is a former Portuguese colony, it is part of the CPLP Agreement, which means that, as a citizen of São Tomé, you have preferential immigration access to Portugal, to Brazil, and to other former Portuguese colonies in Africa. If you want faster citizenship in Portugal, or in Brazil, then applying through your São Tomé citizenship would help you gain a few years.

From that point of view, it’s actually quite interesting. But otherwise, it’s important to remember that it’s a tiny country of 250,000 people. There isn’t really much going on there. It exports mostly agriculture, it exports a little bit of tourism, there are daily flights to Lisbon. And there’s the potential for big oil and gas reserves off the coast, because it’s in the middle of the Gulf of Guinea, which is packed with natural resources, but there just hasn’t been much exploration in its waters.

São Tomé CBI vs. Sierra Leone CBI

I think one of the main questions people have is, does this kill the Sierra Leone Citizenship by Investment program, which is priced at $140,000, and then $10,000 per dependent? The reality is no. Why? Because one of the main selling points of the Sierra Leone Citizenship by Investment program is the fact that it gives you access to ECOWAS. ECOWAS is a bit like the European Union of West Africa, but a lot weaker, but you can still, as an ECOWAS citizen, easily move to the other countries. This means that with a Sierra Leonian citizenship, you don’t just have the right to live in Sierra Leone, a country of 8.5 million people, which is more than 250,000 people, but you can also live in the rest of West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, which are all relatively large economies. All together, ECOWAS has 430 million people.

From a business point of view, from an access point of view for you and your future generations, a Sierra Leonian passport is, obviously, a lot superior to São Tomé. This being said, São Tomé does have its advantages. One, it’s a lot more affordable, it gets your foot in the door in the world of second passports, and then you have easier access and faster citizenship in Portugal and Brazil. The two are very different. Will there be a little bit of cannibalization? For sure, but expect it to be minimal, ultimately.

How to apply to São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship by investment program

Does São Tomé allow crypto payments like Sierra Leone? We don’t know yet. Does São Tomé allow name changes and remote bank account openings like Sierra Leone? We don’t know yet. We’re busy gathering all that information from the citizenship unit. In any case, we will be licensed agents for this program. There’s a link below. And as we get the information, it’s going to be updated. If you’re interested in this program, we can help you. If you’re interested in the Sierra Leonian Citizenship by Investment program, we can also help you. We are licensed agents for this.

African passports to access Africa’s bright future

And we, increasingly, help people as well invest in Africa. I lived on the continent for most of my twenties. I see the potential, long-term, for Africa. I see a growth story that is completely different in Africa compared to the rest of the world, which is going into gradual demographic decline, but Africa is still seeing a nice demographic surge, and this will be an important part of any investors’ core diversification for the decades ahead. All the links are below.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply