Publication: Chad Economic and Poverty Update under COVID-19, Spring 2020
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2020-03
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2020-10-05
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Up to February 2020, Chad’s economy continued its gradual, but mild recovery, supported by a substantial increase in oil and agriculture production. Since March 2020, like in the rest of the world, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically changed Chad’s macroeconomic outlook. Chad’s economic prospects have not only been clouded, but they remain subject to considerable downside risks. To mitigate the negative impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Chad, the authorities announced economic and social measures to support households and private companies in recent months. The authorities are to continue to strengthen some measures already taken while introducing new measures to protect lives, livelihoods, and the future.
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“Tchana Tchana, Fulbert; Kassim, Olanrewaju; Savadogo, Aboudrahyme; Ouedraogo, Aissatou; Coulibaly, Mohamed. 2020. Chad Economic and Poverty Update under COVID-19, Spring 2020. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34563 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Meanwhile, external support from international communities were delayed after the military coup. Public debt subsequently increased to 44.1 percent of GDP. Notwithstanding this increase, Mali remained at moderate risk of debt stress with some space toabsorb shocks (joint IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), February 2020). The crisis offers an opportunity to build back educational systems stronger and more equitable than before. As rules around social distancing are gradually relaxed, systems need to ensure that schools reopen safely, student dropout is minimized, and learning recovery starts. An immediate policy option to focus on is the development and implementation of remedial education, accelerated learning programs, and revision of the academic calendar and examination schedules to allow effective school continuity particularly in poor and conflict areas. 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Pathways to accelerate poverty reduction focus on strengthening human capital, improving infrastructure, and developing sectors with strategic advantages.Publication Gender Dimensions of COVID-19 Economic Impact in Chad(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05)This paper uses computable general equilibrium model-based simulations to assess the gender dimensions of the impact of COVID-19 on economic outcomes, that is, labor force participation, employment, wages, and earnings. It leverages the 2020 High-Frequency Phone Survey in Chad to assess the impact of COVID-19 on female-headed households, which comprise 23 percent of the country’s households. The findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a disproportionately higher negative impact on women in urban areas. The simulation results suggest that more women than men working in paid jobs might lose their jobs. Although the paper focuses on the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the findings can be generalized as the hysteresis effects might be deeper and more prolonged if the pandemic is more prolonged. The situation is potentially dire, especially in service sectors, where most women are employed in urban areas. Moreover, the High-Frequency Phone Survey shows that COVID-19 has notably impacted the households’ income from enterprises and suggests that this negative impact is more prevalent for female-headed households. Although male- and female-headed households are using common coping strategies during the pandemic, female-headed households in rural and urban areas have been more reliant on aid from family and friends and less reliant on savings, credit, or the sale of assets.Publication Responsibility Sharing and the Economic Participation of Refugees in Chad(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-22)The Global Compact on Refugees recognizes the importance of responsibility sharing for hosting, protecting, and assisting refugees, while emphasizing the potential of economic participation to reduce the cost of humanitarian assistance. This note explores the relative importance of aid in caring for refugees hosted in Chad and the importance of the incomes earned by the refugees. It finds that the combination of aid and self-earned incomes falls far short of a minimum standard of living (the poverty line) as a consequence of which the vast majority of refugees lives in abject poverty. 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