Country Profile: Chad
About
Chad is located at the heart of Central Africa. It's the largest landlocked country in Africa, with neighboring countries like Nigeria and Egypt, two of the most active fast-growing countries in the continent. Though official languages are French and Arabic, its business environment is very friendly to English speakers. The economic structure relies heavily on agriculture and fishing for exports, besides traditionally the oil industry. In the midst of the growing local industrial development, more economic activities are expected in the intra-regional trade due to rising young workforce, and free movements of goods and people in the CEMAC area.
Factsheet
Capital
N'Djamena
Area (km²)
1.28M
Official language
French, Arabic
Currency
Central African CFA Franc (XAF)
Population
18.4M
(2023)
Natural increase
31
(2023)
GDP (USD)
13.2B
(2023)
GDP per capita (USD)
715
(2022)
Real GDP growth
3.7
(2023)
GDP composition
Agriculture 52%, Industry 15%, Services 33%
(2020)
Major cities
N'Djamena, Moundou, Sarh, Abéché
Port
0
Int'l airport
1
Imports (USD)
5.19B
(2022)
Exports (USD)
3.77B
(2022)
FDI stocks (USD)
8.37B
(2022)
Inward FDI (USD)
614M
(2022)
Opportunities
Chad has made progressive policy improvements particularly on boosting local productivity with foreign investments. “Made in Chad” is not only a slogan for growing sectors, such as mining and agriculture, which are the historical strengths of Chad. Industrial knowledge has been implanted in the new workforce, resulting in diversification of exports: livestock, gum arabic, sesame, cotton, to name a few, and not to mention, local construction and energy projects that greatly improve overall national productivity and living standards.
The Chad government opens up more trade agreements through WTO, CEMAX, OHDA, in parallel proposing strategic plans to ignite the business climate as more investors have been indicating their interest. To support the emergence of SMBs and foreign large enterprises entering the country, they could be benefited from up-to 5-year tax exemptions. This is not a one-time incentive, as the government has made clear statements to implement effective laws to foster competitiveness, at the midst, speeding up the transformation of the structural base of the economy.
Strengths
Advantageous exports
A large revealed comparative advantage in the outputs of livestock, sesame, gum arabic, cotton.
Strong agro-industry base
75% of the population is employed in agriculture and livestock brewing, including subsistence farming.
Improving business climate
Cross-border trading agreements. The NDP injected billions of dollars to boost private sectors.
Reasons to invest
Youth boom
Top 10 population growth rate. Investors could leverage and upskill the young and competitive workforce.
Unrealized exports potential
An increase in the demand of Chad exports from the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia.
Freedom of establishment
Foreign entities may freely establish and own businesses, and enjoy 5-year tax exemption.
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