São Tomé e Príncipe announce new banknote series

The Banco Central de Sao Tome e Principe has announced that 6 new banknotes will be issued from 1 January 2018. The banknotes are of 5-, 10-, 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-dobras. I don't really keep up with all the economic and monetary developments of São Tomé but it appears to me that the banknotes will have a redenomination compared to the current banknotes? This was first hinted at in July 2016 but apparently I missed the announcement.

The concept banknotes in the article from July 2016 look a lot like the banknotes which have now been announced but there are some differences. One of the biggest differences to me is that the 500-dobras note seems to cancelled. All banknotes have been designed and produced by De la Rue

From the press release by De la Rue: "The new notes celebrate wildlife endemic São Tomé e Príncipe, and include innovative features to make them secure against counterfeiting.

The top four note values showcase a range of security features including De La Rue’s globally renowned Depth ™ Image Hologram and StarChrome® Colour Shift Thread.

The two lowest note values, 5 and 10 Dobras are on De La Rue’s Safeguard® polymer material, making them very durable whilst ensuring they are highly counterfeit resistant."