The European Union has financed through the Procultura project the Radio Somos Todos Primos (RSTP), the first digital São Toméan radio, created by young people who want to contribute to the deepening of press freedom and democracy in the country.
RSTP is an online radio station founded more than 12 years ago by young people from São Tomé, who were living in Portugal at the time, to promote the culture, music, and events of São Tomé and Príncipe.
With funding from the European Union and Portuguese Cooperation, over the past two years RSTP has acquired equipment and trained staff in São Tomé, having inaugurated this Sunday the production and broadcast studio in the São Toméan capital.
“We believe in RSTP and in the impact that this project is having in our country, and we are willing to work harder and better if all the conditions are in place […], our ambition is to broadcast Rádio Somos Todos Primos to the whole country on FM and we will do everything to achieve this goal”, said the director and founder of RSTP, Guedes Medeiros.
The cooperation attaché of the Portuguese Embassy in Sao Tome and Principe, Paula Pereira, stressed that RSTP “was the first project approved in the country by Procultura – a project to promote employment in income-generating activities in the cultural sector in Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) and East Timor – funded by the European Union, co-financed and managed by Camões I.P and co-financed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
According to Paula Pereira, the support was “the result of the recognition of the potential and the work that was being done and the expectation of a real contribution of cultural diversity, to citizenship in Sao Tome and Principe and to the creation of economic value also through the creation of sustainable and lasting jobs.
Besides the Procultura project financing, RSTP received this year a support through the small projects fund of the Portuguese Cooperation “to reinforce the capability of the collaborators and for the acquisition of additional technical material”.
For Paula Pereira, the history of RSTP is proof that “the São Tomense youth is the greatest asset for the development of the country and should be duly supported.’’