Chad: Poor await oil riches

More than a decade after ExxonMobil - then Exxon - decided to develop the oil fields under this landlocked country of Sahara Desert and grassland, Chad's 9 million people wait expectantly. In Chad, the oil receipts that have begun to flow to the government in recent months are to be managed publicly, with 80 percent of them dedicated to pay for schools, clinics, roads and other basic human needs. Years of campaigning by Western and Chadian human rights and environmental groups forced the World Bank, oil companies and Chad's government to set up the plan, which includes a measure of oversight from nongovernmental civic organisations. But it remains to be seen if Chad will escape the curse of natural resources.