Data-center law in Sao Tome and Principe

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06

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Sao Tome and Principe has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-center project sites through the general private-investment framework of Decreto-Lei n.º 19/2016 (Código de Investimentos), which took effect the day after its publication in the Diário da República of 17 November 2016.

The Code sets terms, guarantees, and fiscal-incentive eligibility for any investment of at least EUR 50,000 realized in the country, without naming information technology, data infrastructure, or a special economic zone as a distinct priority sector, and it channels the actual fiscal benefits to a separate Código de Benefícios Fiscais, not itself described here.

No São Toméan statute located addresses electricity-grid interconnection, water use, or air emissions specifically for a data-center or similarly intensive facility.

01

Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Decreto-Lei n.º 19/2016, Código de Investimentos

In force

Decreto-Lei n.º 19/2016, de 17 de Novembro de 2016, Código de Investimentos

Effective 2016-11-18 · Applies to private

Article 1 sets the Code's object as defining the terms, conditions, modalities, guarantees, and incentives applicable to an investment realized in Sao Tome and Principe. Article 2 creates the regime for an investment of a global amount equal to or greater than EUR 50,000, eligible for the fiscal incentives listed in the Código de Benefícios Fiscais.

Article 5 lets the Government privilege certain kinds of investment by sector or development zone, and guarantees an eligible investment a fiscal-incentive regime of exemptions, rate reductions, deductions, accelerated amortization, or investment tax credit, under the terms the Código de Benefícios Fiscais sets.

Article 6 lists the investment's economic and social objectives (growth, technology transfer, employment, and similar goals) without naming information technology, data infrastructure, or a special economic zone as a distinct priority. Article 40 repeals the prior investment code, Lei n.º 7/2008, while preserving incentives already granted under it. Article 41 states that the Decree-Law enters into force the day after its publication.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.