Chad’s New $4 Billion Pipeline to Pump

This year, the government of Chad will begin receiving an estimated $200 million per year in royalties from their oil fields, due to a $4 billion pipeline to Cameroon that was paid for by a loan from the World Bank. In a nation gripped by poverty, civil unrest, widespread corruption, and a weak judicial system, what guarantee is there that this money will ever actually enhance the lives of the 10 million who live there? What if this money is instead used to fuel the current refugee crisis on the border of Sudan that has already left 70,000 dead, or line the pockets of the increasingly wealthy elite? The World Bank is an non-governmental organization (NGO) which lends money to projects that will improve the lives of disadvantaged people. How could they loan money to a government of questionable stability? How could they do this knowing that their contribution may instead have the opposite result? The answer is that this loan has a stipulation requiring the government of Chad to conduct their oil related business with a level of transparency. This means that the citizens of the world and their governments can see precisely who is benefiting from the incoming revenue. A recent report conducted by two NGOs, the Bank Information Center and Catholic Relief Services, has now urged the United States and the World Bank to strictly monitor this transparency.