Highlights: Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the Human Development Index. The Sahelian country is facing serious economic, security, climate and political challenges. Minister of Finance Tahir Hamid Nguilin: "The most difficult thing is behind us" The long-term objective is to go more towards industry, towards agro-pastoral, silvo- Pastoral processing, towards mining to counterbalance the weight that oil has in our economy, he says.

Restoring growth, getting out of dependence on oil and reducing public debt: these are the objectives of the government of Chad, a Sahelian country facing serious economic and security challenges,...

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Tahir Hamid Nguilin, Minister of Finance of Chad: "The most difficult thing is behind us"

Tahir Hamid Nguilin, Chadian Minister of Finance and Budget. © RFI

Text by: Bruno Faure Follow

6 min

Restoring growth, getting out of dependence on oil and reducing public debt: these are the objectives of the government of Chad, a Sahelian country facing serious economic, security, climate and political challenges. Interview with Tahir Hamid Nguilin, Minister of Finance and Budget.

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RFI: Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the Human Development Index. You are looking for investors. How do you plan to attract them?

Tahir Hamid Nguilin: Our country has already taken a number of facilitation, attraction and incentive measures for investors and businesses. We have had a process of economic, administrative and regulatory reforms that have shortened deadlines, reduced paperwork and bureaucracy so that investors do not have to get lost in administrative procedures and start the business quickly. In its 2023 report, the CIAN (French Council of Investors in Africa), shows that there has been progress in terms of improving the business climate, corporate profitability, increase in turnover. All lights are green. These are more real elements than international rankings that are sometimes almost lottery rather than rigorous, intellectual and factual analysis.

Beyond the business climate, what are you doing from a tax and customs point of view to attract foreign companies?

Economic and special zones benefit from a number of provisions relating to their classification as extraterritoriality. These are practically tax-free, duty-free, tax-free zones. These are areas where everything is there: water, electricity, raw materials, suppliers, everything you need. There is a range of facilities granted in these areas and beyond, for a number of priority sectors including ICT, energy, green energy, agro-industry, agribusiness, agriculture and livestock. By the finance law, facilities and exemptions are granted to industries and companies that are on site, but also and much more to first-time investors.

If you do this, is it because it is necessary to diversify the Chadian economy, which is very dependent on oil and cotton?

We have a large part of our GDP that is made up of livestock and agriculture, but it does not represent a significant enough potential in our exports. These products are exported raw. So now, our commitment, our will and that of the head of state is to develop the transformation with more industry on site to have added value and also to show that now, we have comparative advantages. We are a continental country, without access to the sea. With the rise in transport costs and the desire to have short circuits, we are becoming de facto a competitive country for local productions, but also for productions destined for our immediate periphery which is already a very important market.

Is getting out of dependence on oil really one of your government's goals?

Yes. The long-term objective is to go more towards industry, towards agro-pastoral, silvo-pastoral processing, towards mining to counterbalance the weight that oil has in our economy, according to price developments. We also want to improve our local revenues, which have increased by 40% over three years.

Oil prices have been quite favourable in recent years, which has helped you in debt management. You are still in trouble. What are you doing concretely today to fight against Chad's public debt?

Let's say we were in trouble a few years ago. Today, we have repaid a good part of our domestic debt with the increase in our own revenues, including oil. And we have also restructured all of our debt within the framework of the G20 and the Paris Club. With the support of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, we have an acceptable debt relative to the level of GDP. We do not have a debt problem as such today, this is behind us, and it opens up prospects for more virtuous forms of debt that are self-repaying.

You are still in debt to the Swiss commodity trader Glencore, a debt that is now years and years old. You have negotiated a rescheduling.

This debt has decreased significantly over the years. The hardest part is behind us.

One of your files is also to find agreements with the IMF to revive the Chadian economy. Where are you at?

We entered into a program that was conditional on the successful restructuring of our debt. In the case of June, that was done. The first two reviews were successful. We look forward to discussions in the coming days and months on the third review. The work is done normally. We have no particular concerns.

From the point of view of regional integration, do you have more to gain or lose in the AfCFTA project, the Continental Free Trade Area?

This is an African project and we support everything African, so we believe that overall, collectively, Africa will have to gain from the AfCFTA.

At the CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community) summit last March in Yaoundé, the CFA franc was discussed. Do you call as a representative of Chad for rapid reform, for an even faster step towards the creation of another regional currency?

I think there is a lot of politicization on this issue. I think many today prefer to have the CFA franc than other currencies. With rising interest rates and the weight of the dollar, some currencies have collapsed. The CFA is quite stable and allows predictability, predictability. It is a foreign exchange reserve, correlated with the euro. We do not blush about this currency. We are not in excessive activism.

So, you remain a defender of the CFA franc even if some, perhaps for reasons other than economic, want a reform?

We support a common currency, a stable currency, a fixed currency. There are some who think that we need to change the name and that we need to do a little cosmetics. At the moment, that is our position, it has not changed.

Tahir Hamid Nguilin, Minister of Finance of Chad: "The most difficult thing is behind us"

Tahir Hamid Nguilin, Minister of Finance of Chad: "The most difficult thing is behind us"

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