PARIS, September 8, 2017 – The World Bank Group has pledged $1.1 billion, or nearly CFAF 600 billion, over the next three years to help Chad implement its National Development Plan (NDP). This budget includes $1 billion of support from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank fund for the world’s poorest countries, and $100 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank.
The announcement was made by Soukeyna Kane, World Bank Country Director for Chad, Mali, Niger and Guinea, and Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC’s Vice President of New Business, at the Development Partners Round Table held in Paris, September 7-8, 2017.
The purpose of the Round Table was to raise the resources needed to meet the additional financing requirement for the 2017-2021 NDP and obtain the Technical and Financial Partners’ support for and commitment to the plan’s implementation arrangements. The Chadian authorities managed to raise a total of $20 billion at the Round Table, including nearly $14 billion from the private sector.
“The country needs to address the challenges raised by the drop in oil prices, prevailing insecurity in the sub-region, the influx of refugees, climate instability, and the need to meet growing humanitarian needs,” said Makhtar Diop, the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa. “In periods of crisis, it is just as important to maintain economic and fiscal stability as it is to protect the most vulnerable populations. The concern, therefore, today is to put in place the conditions for sustainable, inclusive growth driven by the private sector.”
“IFC and the private sector have an important role to play in Chad, a country that offers real opportunities, especially in agriculture, livestock production, minerals and oil. IFC will work with the other World Bank Group institutions and development partners to create opportunities and support inclusive growth in Chad,” said Tsitsiragos.
The Government and the World Bank have agreed on a program of major structural reforms designed to promote the Chadian economy’s growth and diversification. These reforms are based on four pillars: (i) improving the management of public resources and budget execution; (ii) increasing oil sector transparency; (iii) promoting economic diversification by improving the performance of certain key sectors such as agriculture and livestock production; and (iv) increasing social protection for the poor and vulnerable populations.
The new IDA18 replenishment will more than triple the World Bank’s financial commitments in Chad from $100 million to $360 million. An equivalent sum of additional resources will also be earmarked for refugees, regional integration and private sector development, bringing total resources up to $700 million. These extra resources will come in addition to an already large portfolio of existing projects totaling $300 million in country financing.
