After a fruitful two days in Sudan, Turkey signed 22 accords to strengthen cooperation and discussed investment opportunities for Turkish and Sudanese businesspeople at a business forum, which marked a historical moment when Turkey was assigned with the rebuilding of a former Ottoman territory, Suakin Island. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in the central African country of Chad, the second stop in his tri-country visits to Africa, yesterday for a one-day visit aimed at deepening ties between the two countries as part of a broader aim to expand regional cooperation. In Chad, President Erdoğan was again accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and some 150 Turkish business people.
Chadian President Idriss Deby and members of his cabinet welcomed Erdoğan at the airport in the capital N'Djamena. Erdoğan is expected to arrive in Tunisia today.
Chad is one of the largest countries in Africa and has widespread poverty despite its rich resources. Chad, as one of the least developed countries, ranks 185th of 188 countries in the Human Development Index in 2015.
In Chad, which is rich in gold, uranium and oil reserves, agriculture and livestock are the main sources of living, although oil production started in the country in 2003. More than 55 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Chad presents opportunities for Turkish investors in construction, agriculture, food processing and storage, animal products processing, textiles, machinery and energy, according to Turkey's Economy Ministry.
Turkey's bilateral trade with Chad is relatively low. In 2016, the bilateral trade volume was slightly higher than $42 million in favor of Chad. In 2011, Turkey's exports to Chad increased, jumping from $5.8 million to $19 million in 2014. From 2015 to 2016, Turkish exports were $17 million to $18 million. Until 2015, bilateral trade favored Turkey, but for the last two years, imports from Chad outdid exports to the country.
In 2016, wheat flour was the most exported item to Chad, accounting for 70 percent of total exports to the country. Iron and steel products, yeast and pasta were other products Chad imported from Turkey. The abundance of natural resources in Chad makes the country attractive for investment. In addition to sodium carbonate and kaolin resources, it also has uranium, bauxite, tin, titanium and iron. The country exports oil to the Atlantic coast via a 1,074 kilometer pipeline to Cameroon.
Chad presents opportunities for Turkish investors in construction, agriculture, food processing and storage, animal products processing, textile, machinery and energy, Can Hakan Karaca, the chairman of the Turkey-Chad Business Council previously said. Karaca pointed out that the main problems for investors in Chad are inadequate energy and costly transportation infrastructure, weak institutions and corruption. He also said one of the main problems Turkish businesses face in Chad is the lack of Turkish banks.
In addition to the fuel problems in the country, it was also hit hard by falling oil prices, which further widened the budget deficit. Due to humanitarian and security reasons as well as the Ebola epidemic in the region, the country had to close its borders with neighbors and limit international flights. Chad's economy, which is supported by commercial exchanges with regional countries, was badly injured because of the closed borders and limited flights.
Chad generally exports to the U.S., France and China and imports mainly from France, Cameroon and China. Cotton, livestock and acacia are the main export items and the country generally imports machinery equipment, vehicles, industrial goods and food.
