The Investment Charter

Export: A Market of the Future

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Essentially an importing country due to its geographical isolation, Chad nevertheless abounds in undeniable export potential. The future looks promising as the integrated framework process has already started, a program whose main objective is to assist LDCs in identifying the main obstacles to the expansion of their trade and to provide them with coordinated technical assistance in order to eliminate these barriers.
The integrated framework process emanating from a tripartite, Government, Private Sector and Donors, will ultimately enable Chad to face up to opportunities to access new markets.
Thus, Chad will be able to considerably increase its various exports. Indeed, apart from cotton whose export in the raw state (cotton - seed and cotton fiber) faces unfair competition due to the subsidies granted to American cotton growers, the other products will easily have their way.
The main export products likely to experience increased potential include gum arabic and cattle.
With regard to gum arabic, of which Chad ranks second among producing countries just behind Sudan, the outlook is encouraging. Already, according to TRADEMAP data from 2003, Chad is ranked 4th world exporting country with a quantity of 9,670 tones, of which 4,721 tones are destined for the USA and 4,100 tones for France. Other countries like Germany, Mexico, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan etc. are also eyeing the Chadian supply side. It suffices quite simply to organize the sector well and to add value to this raw material so prized so that Chad can directly derive enormous profits from it because at the moment other countries are certainly exploiting this sector.
As for the cattle of which Chad can boast of being the leading producer in the CEMAC sub-region, it would suffice to control the marketing circuit which, for the time being, largely eludes trade statistics. Never mind, according to the French Development Agency, livestock exports in 2000 for example amounted to 68 billion CFA francs. The diagnostic study on trade integration (DTIS) carried out in the integrated framework and currently being validated, highlights the livestock sector as having strong export potential.
To these export products are also added peanuts, animal skins and cigarettes.

Chad exports mainly to Europe and in particular to Portugal, Germany and France which represented an average of 65% of exports in 2003. In addition to these countries, products of Chadian origin are sent to neighboring Nigeria, the Spain, Czechoslovakia and to a lesser extent Taiwan, Poland and Morocco.
It is also important not to lose sight of the fact that since October 2003, Chad has entered the circle of oil-exporting countries. Its production, which according to experts will last around 30 years, is estimated at 80 million barrels per year by 2009.
It is clear that the implementation of the integrated framework, which is on the horizon, will give more money. assets in Chad in terms of exports.

Chad, partner of the European Union and AGOA

The country, crowned with its entry into the circle of black gold producers, is doing everything to hook its wagon to the locomotive of globalization. America as much as Europe is an integral part of its aims
As of today, Chad is one of the seventeen (17) countries which, enjoying sufficient political stability in the eyes of the President of the United States, are eligible to benefit from AGOA, (African Growth and Opportunity Act). This law, in addition to promoting economic promotion and development on the old continent, also provides access to African businesses and investors.
Since Chad is eligible for AGOA, the State has undertaken actions to enable economic operators to benefit from it. Thus, through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Handicrafts, a National AGOA Monitoring Committee, led by the Secretary General of the said ministry and comprising representatives of both public authorities and those of the private sector. , was established. This was followed by the establishment of a technical sub-committee to monitor AGOA and especially the establishment of an AGOA Resource Center (ARC) within the Chamber of Commerce with technical assistance from the 'Embassy of the United States in Chad.
In the opinion of the heads of WATH, Business Center in West Africa (including Chad and Cameroon), Chad is among the six (6) most dynamic CRAs. This is why he was selected to organize an AGOA day on August 24 at the Chamber of Commerce with the support of WATH and the US Embassy. This event is undoubtedly a forum where AGOA specialists and operators, experienced or potential exporters scrutinize the procedures and steps necessary to master in order to better penetrate the vast and complex American market.
Beyond this one-off action for which Abou FALL, coordinators of the 15 CRAs existing in Africa and Leah Quin, communications coordinator, both based in Accra, have made special visits, it is worth noting a clear desire to trade with the USA. To achieve this, further considerable efforts are being made to enable the business community to acquire the capacity to be competitive in the irreversible process of globalization. A synergy has been established and is being refined day by day between the public and private sectors in order to bring national companies to make use of Information and Communication Technologies, essential for international trade.

Thus, the subscription to TRADEMAP and PRODUCTMAP, two fabulous market analysis tools designed by the International Trade Center (ICC) and made available to Chad thanks to support from USAID, could be renewed. And the erection of a New Technologies Department within the Presidency of the Republic is a strong signal of the Government's commitment to popularize these competitive tools that were once out of reach.

With a view to the design and implementation of a coherent strategy obeying the vision of the International Trade Center, the authorities and the business community are working together. From this consultation will spring initiatives whose aim will be to no longer remain on the sidelines of globalization under any pretext.

The American and European markets should be penetrated as well as possible by Chadian economic operators. In this regard, the CEMAC / ST and EU partnership agreements, a process already underway, should also, at the end of the day, contribute to meeting the challenge of competitiveness at the national level.

Flowering of foreign companies in Chad

It is a notable fact that the companies that have established themselves in Chad are foreign or with foreign capital. Non-nationals are therefore legion to succeed in business in the country of Toumaï.
There is no need for statistics to note that in Chad, foreigners pass for the most knowledgeable businessmen. The Directorate of Economic Action of the Chamber of Commerce, which recently, in 2005, had a directory of companies established in Chad published, confirms this observation. According to the manager in charge of this direction, Renaud Dinguemnaial "the very first to have immediately perceived the scope of this work by subscribing to an insertion for its preparation were the foreign economic operators" This is not fortuitous but rather reflects the fact that the visionary foreigners who settled in Chad did not do it out of philanthropy, and even less out of the pleasure of living in the Cradle of Humanity. These foreigners who operate in key and dynamic sectors,
Who are they exactly, those, from elsewhere, who find their accounts by investing in Chad? First, there are the multinationals which, by virtue of their proven expertise on an international scale, are winning over the juicy markets relating to road infrastructure, one of the priority sectors financed thanks to the support of donors and the fallout from the windfall. petroleum. Indeed, SATOM and ARAB CONTRACTOR, French and Egyptian firms respectively, to name just these two, are currently working on the construction sites of the roads connecting the capital to the northern part of the country. Another promising niche, mobile telephony, is currently monopolized by AIRTEL but will soon have to face competition from another foreign company which is currently refining a strategy to enter the local market. Pierre CASTLE, this French magnate well known on the continent, has also taken over the brewing sector which recently saw the merger of Brasseries du Logone (BDL) and Boissons et Glacières du Tchad (BGT) into Brasseries du Tchad ( BDT). The Manufacture des Cigarettes du Tchad, a subsidiary of British Tobago, is one of the jewels of the Chadian industry.
The hotel sector, and especially catering, seems to be the prerogative of foreigners who excel there. Lebanese, French, Indians and Chinese happily share this market which has experienced a certain boom with the exploitation of oil. The opening of the Libyan hotel complex which overlooks N'djamena with its splendor, relieves congestion in this market, which is far from having reached its peak.
Nationals of the Central Africa sub-region are also successfully exploring the Chadian market. The meteoric rise of Foberd, a subsidiary of the Cameroonian group Fokou, and the hand almost placed on the Commercial Bank Chad and the Imprimerie du Tchad by another Cameroonian billionaire, Fotso Victor, are the perfect illustration of this.
According to the Directorate of Economic Action of the Chamber of Commerce, "many foreign investors are knocking on the doors of Chad and are waiting for the crucial energy problem to be resolved before they arrive". Aware of the challenges looming on the horizon, the consular institution, whose primary mission is to promote the private sector and which has seen its resources increase thanks to the invaluable assistance of the Head of State in person, is working daily to sell more the destination Chad.

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