Online Platform "ten years first oil in Chad"

An interactive online platform to strengthen the work of the local civil society in Chad.

From 2003 on Oil has been produced in southern Chad. The World Bank approved the co-financing of the Chad-Cameroon project within the framework of a public private partnership with the oil companies, thus creating an effective tool to fight poverty. The major oil companies involved were Exxon Mobil, Petronas and Chevron Texaco, as the consortium ESSO.

The World Bank established a comprehensive legislative framework in response to social pressure in order to ensure that the oil revenues were used to alleviate poverty and accelerate development. These laws defined how and on which sectors the profits were to be distributed. However in 2006 – only three years after the oil extraction had started – the Chadian government officially announced that it would no longer comply with these regulations. The Oil Revenue Management Law was amended, the fund for future generations was disbanded, and the previously defined priority sectors (health, education, infrastructure, social services, rural development and water) were expanded to include the security sector, justice and administration.

Almost ten years after the project’s approval, the World Bank concluded that the investment had failed to reduce poverty and was associated with violent conflict, worsening governance and corruption.
During those ten years, Group Chad has been accompanying the process and assisting the civil society on a local and national basis in order to help reduce harm on the population. Therefore we want to raise awareness especially concerning this very conflicting anniversary. The positive and negative experiences acquired wire internet shall be used for future improvements of our lobby work.

  • What happened in those ten years?
  • How did the oil extraction and everything related therewith affect the everyday life in Chad?
  • Was there a fair compensation for the land and how was the compensation money spent?
  • How well did the government and the oil companies inform the population?
  • Which consequences have to be drawn by whom so that the resource mineral oil raked is promoted and used?
  • Which contribution can you make to this personally?

We would like to stimulate an input from each involved party. We wish to accomplish an anonymous dialogue between all actors regardless of their social or economic background. Affected farmers could share their experience directly with employees and the management of oil companies. The civil society could draw its conclusions in how fare the petrol project has been successful.

Please share your ten years experience of oil extraction in Chad with us.