Announcement of Four Million One Hundred Thousand Dollar Credit to Chad on July 17, 1968

\) 'r,...: f. I. 0 I' ,It~-1,> • INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (~) 1818 H STREET. N.W .• WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 68/19 Subject: $4.1 million credit to Chad July 17, 1968 Internal transport in the Republic of Chad will be greatly improved as a result of a road maintenance program for which the International Development Association (IDA) is lending $4.1 million. The relatively high cost of trans- port is putting a strain on Chad's whole economy so that improved roads, the chief means of transport, should yield immediate and significant benefits. This will be the first operation by the World Bank Group in Chad. Chad, a large landlocked country in central Africa, lies about 2,000 miles ~ from the Atlantic coast. Since more than two-thirds of the country is desert, most of the population of some 3.5 million lives in the south and derives a living from agriculture, principally livestock, groundnuts and cotton. Per capita income is only about $70 and the Government's development strategy places emphasis on the expansion and diversification of agriculture, improve- ment of internal and external transport, and the development of human resources through education and training. Improvements in rail and road routes in neigh- boring countries now under way or planned should reduce the future cost of trans- port between Chad and the sea. The road maintenance program will be comple- mentary and reduce vehicle operating costs within the country. The five-year highway maintenance program will be carried out by the Directorate of Public Works. It includes the provision of equipment and • spare parts, materials, extension and improvement of workshops, and the /more (IDA 68/19 - Chad) • - 2 - training of operators and mechanics. It will enable the Directorate to ex- tend the scope of its maintenance operations from about 1,050 miles of the road system to about 2,300 miles by 1971. The roads to be maintained serve areas in which the bulk of the country's economic activity takes place. The IDA credit also includes funds for consultants' services to under- take a feasibility study and the engineering of the 53-mile Djermaya-Djimtilo road and lakeside facilities, as well as the initiation of a system for col- lecting traffic data on main highways. The road provides a direct link between Lake Chad and Fort Lamy, the capital and main center of economic activity. Agri 0 cultural production in the Lake Chad area is now held back by lack of adequate transportation facilittes. An all-weather road and improvement of related lake- • side facilities would encourage an increase in fishing and agricultural produc- tion and expedite transportation to markets. The IDA credit will cover the foreign exchange costs of the capital expendi- tures to be undertaken during the first three years of the five-year program and of the consultants' services. The Government of Chad will cover other capital expenditures on the program totaling $1.3 million as well as about $4.5 million of recurrent highway maintenance costs during the life of the program. The IDA credit will be for a term of 50 years. It will be free of interest but a service charge of 3/4 of 17. will be made to meet IDA's administrative costs. - 0 - •