World Bank protests Chad's use of oil money
Copyright 2000 Agence France-Presse
December 5, 2000
WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (AFP) - The World Bank has lodged complaints with authorities in Chad over the country's diversion of oil revenues to the defense ministry, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Under pressure from the bank and the International Monetary Fund, Chadian authorities revealed on November 25 that nearly 3.05 billion CFA francs (4.1 million dollars) in oil revenues had been allocated to the defense ministry. This spending could jeopardize Chad's efforts to obtain forgiveness for its foreign debt, World Bank spokesman Richard Uku said.
The World Bank is also helping to finance a 1,050-kilometer (600-mile) pipeline that will carry Chadian oil to the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, on the condition that the war-torn African country uses the oil revenues to rebuild its infrastructure, Uku said.
Once the pipeline is completed in 2003, Chad can expect revenues of two billion dollars a year, a boon for a country impoverished by the encroaching desert and eking out a living by raising livestock and cultivating cotton. The project is expected to create between 3,000 and 4,000 jobs, since roads will have to be resurfaced and bridges must be built.