Investment Incentives

The Chadian tax code (CGI, Code General des Impôts) offers incentives to new business start-ups, new activities, or substantial extensions of existing activities.  Eligible economic activities are limited to the industrial, mining, agricultural, forestry, and real estate sectors, and may not compete with existing enterprises already operating in a satisfactory manner (Articles 16 and 118 of the National Investment Charter). 

Foreign investors may ask the GOC for other incentives through investment-specific negotiations.  Large companies usually sign separate agreements with the government, which contain negotiated incentives and obligations.  The possibility of special tax exemptions exists for some public procurement contracts, and a preferential tax regime applies to contractors and sub-contractors for major oil projects.  The government occasionally offers lower license fees in addition to ad hoc tax exemptions. Incentives tend to increase with the size of a given investment, its potential for job creation, and the location of the investment, with rural development being a GOC priority.  Investors may address inquiries about possible incentives directly to the Ministry of Industrial and Commercial Development & Private Sector Promotion, or the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

The GOC does not issue guarantees but jointly finances some foreign direct investments.

Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation

There are currently no foreign trade zones in Chad.  The Chadian Agency for Investment and Exportation (ANIE) is examining the possibility of creating a duty-free zone.

Performance and Data Localization Requirements

Chad does not follow forced localization, the policy in which foreign investors must use domestic content in goods or technology. 

Foreign companies are legally required to employ Chadian nationals for 98 percent of their staff.  Firms can formally apply for permission from the Labor Promotion Office (ONAPE) to employ more than two percent expatriates if they can demonstrate that skilled local workers are not available.  Most foreign firms operating in Chad have obtained these permissions. Foreign workers require work permits in Chad, renewable annually. Companies must present personnel files of local candidates not hired to the GOC for comparison against the profiles of foreign workers.  Multinational companies and international non-governmental organizations routinely protest these measures. 

There are no requirements for foreign IT providers to turn over source code and/or provide access to surveillance (backdoors into hardware and software or turn over keys for encryption).  There are no rules on maintaining a certain amount of data storage within Chad. The GOC has enacted four laws covering cybersecurity and cyber-criminality.