Debt: Chad, a textbook case for the international community
Audio 02:21
Avenue Charles de Gaulle in Ndjamena concentrates many company headquarters in Chad.
As the Paris summit dedicated to aid to African countries opens this Tuesday, the country is a textbook case.
© David Baché / RFI
By: Olivier Rogez Follow |
David Baché
6 mins
Since the Covid-19 crisis, the country is the first to have requested a rescheduling of its debt.
It reaches almost half of the GDP if we consider both the external debt and the domestic debt.
The IMF has stepped up support programs and pledged to provide $ 560 million over the next four years.
Chadian companies, often very dependent on the state, are impatiently awaiting the arrival of public funds.
Publicity
Daouda Bichara is the president of the CNP, the Chadian National Employers Council.
In recent years, the State has become indebted to companies and banks, which is slowing down overall activity.
The private sector is therefore impatiently awaiting the results of the Paris summit.
“
Today the state owes the banks a lot of money, and if the state paid these banks, then I think things could get better.
And we hope that with this meeting
(the Paris summit),
Chad will perhaps have the chance that part of its debt is paid off and that the country will be able to revive itself ”,
says Daouda Bichara
Improvements noted
Since 2020, the state's finances have improved somewhat.
The IMF has disbursed a total of $ 184 million in emergency assistance.
In addition, a four-year program has just been concluded.
It will inject an additional $ 560 million into the Chadian economy.
In fact, some entrepreneurs are already seeing improvements, this is the case of Ali Annadif, president of the Almahri group, present in particular in the construction industry.
Since 2013, most of its projects have been frozen for lack of public funds.
“
Our projects which are financed by the State were able to resume in 2020 and 2021. So, it is certain that the resources that the State could have had positive repercussions for the projects.
"
Sectors that could have disappeared
The Chadian economy suffered both from the 2014 oil crisis and poor governance.
Thus the cotton sector almost disappeared before an angel investor, the Singaporean Olam bought the activities of CotonTchad in 2018.
"
Olam's arrival in Chad made it possible, first of all, to save CotonTchad from certain bankruptcy," explains
Ibrahim Malloum secretary general of CotonTchad.
“
The company could not even pay for the cotton it took from the peasants.
Confidence returned and the peasants returned to cotton cultivation.
Chadian production had come down to fifteen thousand tons of seed cotton.
But in the first year
(taken over by Olam Editor's note)
, we went to 114,000 tonnes
.
"
Become an attractive country
The example of Olam shows that Chad can become an attractive country, especially since the sectors in which to invest are numerous.
“
In Chad, there is no electricity.
Generators are extremely expensive and we are asking people to come and invest in energy.
The second point is agriculture.
We have a lot of spaces that need to be developed.
», Indicates Daouda Bichara, president of the CNP.
Since 2018, Chad has been trying to diversify its economy, focusing in particular on the livestock sector.
But public investments are still too timid to substantially improve the daily life of the population.
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Chad
Economy Africa