Kuwaiti fund makes major pledge to Chad's development plan
The Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development pledged on Thursday to contribute $20 million to a three-year development plan presented by Chad's President Idriss Deby at a meeting organized by the UN Development Program (UNDP), the Kuwaiti news agency Kuna reported.
The pledge, announced by the fund's chief officer for the West Africa division, Abdul Rahman Al-Hashim, is still subject to approval by the fund's board.
Other Gulf countries and OPEC showed similar interest in the meeting. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pledged $40 million. The Arab Bank for Development donated $15 million, and the government of Abu Dhabi pledged $16.4 million.
Saudi Arabia was also represented at the meeting as was the Islamic Development Bank, but the amount of their contribution was not immediately revealed.
President Deby of Chad welcomed the results of the two-day pledging conference, which totaled $1.2 billion. He said the response shows donor confidence in Chad, which is trying to stabilize its democratic institutions after many years of political turmoil.
The World Bank, France and the European Commission made contributions amounting to 55 percent of the total that was pledged, UNDP sources said.
The interest from the Gulf countries and OPEC is linked to Chad's oil-producing capacity, a sector that has not yet been tapped.
According to the UNDP, the imminent exploitation of domestic oil resources substantially improves Chad's development prospects. Reserves in the Doba and Sedigi Oil fields have been estimated at 900 million and 10-15 million barrels respectively.
Chad's oil investment project, which begins this year, is based on the development of three oil fields. Some 300 wells will be linked to a central treating facility from which the crude will be transported via a 1,100 kilometer pipeline to a sea terminal in Kribi on the coast of Cameroon.
The government estimates that the oil project will generate additional revenues amounting to $125 million between 2000 and 2025.