• GDP: US$5.3 billion (2005).
• Main exports: Cotton, cattle and Gum Arabic.
• Main imports: Machinery and transportation equipment, industrial goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs and textiles.
• Main trade partners: France, USA, China, Cameroon, Portugal and Germany.

Chad is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a per capita annual income of just US$200. Civil war, poor infrastructure, few natural resources and droughts have hampered any development of the economy during the last few decades.

Subsistence level farming occupies 80% of the population, producing mainly sorghum, millet and groundnuts. Cotton is the main cash crop. Nonetheless, there are chronic food shortages which can, in many areas, only be met by international food aid.

Agro-industrial operations, most of which are based in the south of the country, dominate the small industrial sector. Mineral deposits including tungsten, tin, bauxite, gold and iron ore have been located: only natron (hydrated sodium carbonate) is mined in commercial quantities.

However, the country now has a unique opportunity to transform its economic fortunes following the discovery of large oil deposits in the Doba Basin in the southwest. A 1,000km (621-mile) pipeline linking the fields to the Cameroonian port of Kribi (Chad is landlocked) opened in 2003.

Chad is expected to earn around US$3 billion over 25 years, which will increase national income by around 50%. To avoid the corruption that oil has given rise to in other African countries, a law requires that 80% of oil revenue is spent on development projects. This arrangement has been threatened however by a change in the law in December 2005 which allowed the government to retrieve some of the money put aside for ’future generations’, ie when the oil runs out.

Chad is a member of the Central African Economic and Customs Union (CEEAC).

A knowledge of French is essential as there are no professional translators available. Best months for business visits are between November and May.

Office hours: Mon-Sat 0700-1400, Fri 0700-1200.

Chambre de Commerce, d’Industrie, d’Agriculture, des Mines et d’Artisanat
13 avenue du Colonel Moll, BP 458, N’Djaména, Chad
Tel: 525 264.