Sao Tome: Where the biggest threat is falling coconuts
AP Photo by George Osodi
By Todd Pitman
Associated Press
SAO TOME, Sao Tome & Principe (AP) _ Hovering below the brilliant blue waters off the coast of this tropical West African archipelago, French scuba diver Jean-Louis Testori spots a tiny sea horse huddled by a rock on a pitch of white sand.
The sea is clear, aquarium-like - thousands of red soldierfish and spidery arrow crabs peek from a bank of coral-covered rocks. Jackfish hunt a bubble of darting silver sardines. Electric rays fly across the seabed.
Paradise Found
Oil's Curse
Avoiding the oil curse: Can Sao Tome legislation protect oil revenues?
October 24, 2005
By TODD PITMAN
SAO TOME, Sao Tome and Principe (AP) _ Take profits from billions of barrels of offshore oil, divide them among a population of just 150,000, and this dirt-poor archipelago of flimsy wooden shacks could be transformed into one of the world's affluent petro-states.
Factor in the potential for war, conflict or corruption _ painful realities in many oil-rich African nations _ and the dream of development can quickly become a nightmare.