Chad: Landlocked Oil Producer Managing Regional Conflict and Climate Shocks
Chad produces 110,000 barrels per day of oil exported via the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. Revenue management under the Mahamat Idriss Deby transition government is scrutinised by the IMF and World Bank amid humanitarian crises.
Chad's Doba Basin oil fields, developed by an ExxonMobil-led consortium in the early 2000s with World Bank financing, produce approximately 110,000 barrels per day exported via the 1,070-kilometre pipeline to the Kribi terminal in Cameroon. Oil revenues, though lower than in Chad's 2014 peak production period, remain the primary source of government budget financing. The transition government led by Mahamat Idriss Deby, who took power following his father's death in 2021 and was elected president in 2024, has maintained the IMF programme and debt restructuring framework.
Humanitarian and Investment Context
Chad hosts over 600,000 Sudanese refugees from the ongoing Sudan civil war and has experienced flooding affecting 1 million people annually in recent years. The Lake Chad Basin, shared with Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon, has shrunk 90 percent since the 1960s due to climate change and water extraction. Despite these challenges, oil services, agricultural commodity trading, and telecommunications represent viable business sectors. N'Djamena's position as a Sahel logistics hub for USAID, UN agencies, and NGOs creates commercial opportunities. Companies operating in Chad's extractive and services sectors can find market contacts on intra-africa.com.
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