Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, November 23, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Government agencies, policy makers and private sector participants in S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe will be interacting online with prospective investors to the country during the S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe Investment Forum taking place online on BusinessBinder.com from November 25-26 2015. The online event is free to attend and registration is on www.businessbinder.com.

BusinessBinder.com, a venture of University of Oxford�s Isis Startup Incubator, provides a platform to connect potential investors with key players in various opportunity rich economies in Africa and S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe has been selected as the premier destination for the portal.

The islands of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe lie in the Gulf of Guinea on the west central coast of Africa. The country is blessed with substantial reserves of hydrocarbons, fertile vegetation and lush sandy beaches making it both a haven for investment and an exotic travel destination. Neighbouring countries include Cameroun, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola.

The S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe Investment Forum is a 2 day online exhibition featuring virtual exhibition booths, a networking lounge and countless interactive possibilities between all participants. Potential investors can interact with exhibitors via chat, voice calls and video calls and all exhibition booths provide videos, brochures and are manned by senior officials poised to answer all enquiries. Chat features in booths and in the networking lounge are enabled for real time multilingual messaging hence language barriers have been eliminated and visitors and exhibitors alike can communicate and understand easily in their respective languages.

The S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe Investment Forum will be accessible on www.businessbinder.com via mobile, tablet and PC. The beauty of an online investment forum is that geographic barriers have been eliminated and potential investors are not constrained to travel on certain dates to forge relationships with government agencies and private companies and can make necessary connections beforehand and later organise physical trips when convenient. The online forum also enables a more robust representation from players in S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe compared to a physical event held in the country or abroad.

The S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe Investment Forum which is jointly organised by BusinessBinder.com and Associacao Empresarial de S�o Tom� e Pr�ncipe (AESTP) � the Business Association of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe � will focus on partnership opportunities in various sectors of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe�s economy including Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Tourism, Telecommunications, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Fisheries, Trade and more.

The Platinum sponsor of the forum is HBD Venture Capital, an investment company founded by Mark Shuttleworth, the first African in space and the founder of the Ubuntu operating system. HBD is one of the largest foreign investors in S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe and will be exhibiting alongside their hotel investments � Omali Lodge and Bom Bom Island Resort Pr�ncipe. Gold sponsors include CST, the telecommunications company of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe; Mota Engil, the largest Portuguese construction company with subsidiaries across Africa; and Pestana Group, the largest Portuguese tourism and leisure group. Silver sponsor is Banco Internacional de S�o Tom� e Pr�ncipe (BISTP), one of the leading banks in the country.

Exhibitors from S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe�s Public Sector will include the National Petroleum Agency (ANP-STP), the Ministry of Economy and International Cooperation and the Directorate of Tourism and Hotels amongst others.

Nuno Madeira Rodrigues, President of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe�s Business Association (AESTP) believes the online forum will be a great vehicle to showcase the potential of the country. �These are exciting times for S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe. Plans are underway to construct a deep-sea trans-shipment port due to S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe�s unique positioning in West Central Africa and the country is poised to be one of the most important hubs for intra-African trade in the next few years with at least one million tonnes passing through the port by 2019.�

Mr Rodrigues goes on to say �Apart from the geostrategic position of S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe in the Gulf of Guinea � the richest part of the continent, the country also benefits from political stability, an enviable growth rate and an emerging middle class. The government is also modernising the airport as a regional hub and creating a fiscal and legal infrastructure that would make S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe the preferred destination for foreign companies to domicile their African headquarters.�

�Without a shadow of a doubt, S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe is one of the most beautiful places on this earth, it is the definition of paradise,� says Adaeze Udo Ekwueme, Co-founder of BusinessBinder.com. �Apart from the obvious which is investing in Oil and Gas, potential investors should explore opportunities in Agriculture, Fisheries and Tourism as the country is blessed with fertile soil, abundant sea life and uniquely unspoilt exotic beaches. We chose S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe as the first destination to launch BusinessBinder.com and we will be covering investment opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa when the full website launches in 2016.�

The S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe Investment Forum will give investors all they need to know to be successful in S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe. Visitors can gain complimentary access to the online forum when registering online at www.businessbinder.com.

Event dates: 25-26 November 2015
Location: Online/www.businessbinder.com
Website: www.businessbinder.com

For more information, please contact
Adaeze Udo Ekwueme, Co-founder, BusinessBinder.com
Email: [email protected]