Chad’s roadmap towards industrialization and economic diversification has for a long time faced challenges; that need addressing through a planned urbanization strategy.

The challenges that plague the productive potential of Chad’s urban areas, including but not limited to low digital connectivity, low skills and poor access to finance.

Tackling these challenges and rolling out a planned urbanization framework requires “increasing the supply of developed and serviced plots around large cities to curb unplanned informal development; creating special economic zones which combine access to infrastructure; and instituting regulatory and administrative reforms to make it easier to operate industrial businesses.”

The Director of the Central Africa Office of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Antonio Pedro made these assertions during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

The virtual meeting was convened to review the urbanization component of Chad’s Industrialization and Economic Diversification Masterplan (PDIDE). The meeting involved several inter-ministerial experts, private sector representatives and academics.

Review of the Urbanization component

The urbanization component developed by the Urbanization Section of ECA is at the behest of the Government of Chad. The component is to supplement the PDIDE framework of strategies which was adopted in March 2020 after collaboration between ECA and Chadian experts.

The urbanization component framework aims to scale Chad’s economic growth from about -2% in 2017 to above 8% by 2030. Apart from ensuring that the planned urbanization framework contributes a key pillar to delivering Chad’s PDIDE, it has three sub-areas it considers viz; economic-sector targeting, the national spatial system, and financing and coordination.

Economic sector targeting

Furthermore, the Chadian government needs to move swiftly with a consolidated strategy. This strategy will help in tackling the case of a rapidly growing urban population. Since the government expects the Chadian population to reach 70% by 2030.

In such a case, it would be ingenious creating massive employment opportunities especially for young people; thus targeting the economic sector of the economy, Mr. Tidjani Chetima, Social Affairs Officer, GPSPD- Urbanization & Development Section said.

“Chad has identified agribusiness, construction, renewable energies and information technologies as priority sectors for industrialization and economic diversification. But it needs to lay emphasis on the agricultural value chain. Also to leverage public investments in mega-infrastructure projects and housing programs to develop the construction sector,”
Mr. Tidjani Chetima, Social Affairs Officer, GPSPD- Urbanization & Development Section

Construction sector targeting

Another area of focus is the construction sector to drive economic growth. Huge gaps persist in the supply of Chad’s urban housing although construction constitutes 20% of GDP.

Mr. Chetima further indicated that alongside Chad’s national spatial system, industrialisation and economic diversification efforts must be targeted on about 1 to 3 cities with N’Djamena being the lead. This would help maximise scarce resources and the chances of succeeding.

Again, such a move would require the development of trade and transport infrastructure, as well as special economic zones connected to already existing cities and rural areas in order to make the most of the economies of agglomeration.

According to Adama Coulibaly, Head of Sub-regional Initiatives Section of the Central Africa Office of ECA, through PDIDE, Chad should veer from the catching-up economic mode to a creative economic mode, to become the miracle of the Central African sub-region.