Your Excellency, President Déby

Your Excellency, President Biya,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentleman,

A Proud and Historical Moment

This is a proud day for Chad and Cameroon. It is also a proud day for the World Bank. As the Vice-President of Africa, I am pleased to represent our President Mr. James Wolfensohn at today's groundbreaking ceremony. He has asked me to convey his warmest congratulations to all of you on this occasion and to express his continued personal interest in this extraordinary project. As an African, too, I am heartened by the sheer size of this private investment at the heart of our continent - which needs to attract much more international capital if we are to realize our development dreams. And I can almost feel the burden of those thirty years you have been waiting here in Chad - since this oil was first discovered - being lifted from your shoulders now. For all these reasons, we feel privileged to be at your side at this historic and promising moment.

Partnership and Purpose

The preparation of this project has involved a high degree of partnership and purpose. First, on the part of the two Governments and the Consortium and secondly, between them and the international official lenders (including the World Bank and the International Finance Cooperation). But it has also involved the efforts of many individuals, local communities and non-government organizations within the two countries and overseas. And, in its final form, it represents a consensus on the part of the international community as a whole, expressed in the discussions of the World Bank Group's Board, that this was an opportunity which should not be missed.

Some have regretted the controversy which surrounded this project. But we feel that the international debate was necessary and valuable, and that the project is sounder as a result. Having to give clear answers to tough questions - even when we were confident that the project design should speak for itself - was a useful discipline. And it allowed Chadians and Cameroonians outside Government to understand the risks and benefits of the project better. The best way to celebrate our achievements so far will be to implement the project with the same seriousness and openness.

Together, we need to demonstrate that petroleum resources can be used to lift our people out of deep poverty, while protecting the environment and respecting the rights of communities and individuals. Together, we can encourage other private investors to consider projects in Africa which will bring them good returns but also - with imaginative public policy and good government - improve African society at large. And, together, we can show how a partnership between governments, multinational companies, multilateral financial institutions, and local communities can benefit everyone. The world is watching this experiment closely and we should take advantage of that attention. In fact, I would like to see us transform what was a controversy into a model of intelligent and open project implementation.

In a sense, it is even more important that we live up to the high standards we have set for ourselves - as we take the project design from the drawing boards and our offices into the countryside. New information and new challenges await us, and we need to respond to these in ways which will draw on the widest range of advice. Quite apart from the physical construction, how the two governments manage their resources and the natural environment before the oil starts flowing will be key to raising public confidence in the project and lowering concern about how the oil money will be used.

The Task Ahead

Oil production is still three years away. But, during that time, we have a major task ahead of us to strengthen the public institutions necessary for protecting the environment and ensuring that the new revenues will be used directly to reduce poverty. You can count on the World Bank Group's support in meeting that challenge. We are at the start - not the end - of a journey which will make this project not just a connection between two countries or a route to world markets but also a pipeline to a better life. For this to be achieved on both sides of the border, there will be need to be continuous dialogue, rapid response (when problems arise) and the full participation of everyone concerned.

The success of the partnerships underlying this project will be expressed not in the rates of oil production, nor in the levels of eventual revenues for the two countries, but in firm conviction that all voices have been heard and a belief by all Chadians and Cameroonians that this project belongs to them. I salute the Government of Cameroon's decision to manage the oil revenues in a way which will be understandable to its people. And I wish the two governments, the private investors, and all the men and women who will be involved in project implementation the same boldness, ingenuity and determination which have led to this historic day.

Thank you.