• Chad and U.S. officials discuss expanding American involvement in digital projects.
• Washington is exploring opportunities tied to Chad’s 2030 development agenda.
• The country’s weak digital indicators highlight the scale of the challenge ahead.

Boukar Michel, Chad’s minister of Telecommunications, met on Wednesday, November 26, with William Flens, the chargé d’affaires of the United States, accompanied by Arthur James Bell, the embassy’s first secretary. During the talks, both sides reaffirmed their interest in strengthening cooperation and encouraging greater participation by American companies in the country’s digital and technology projects.

The minister outlined the main priorities of the National Development Program for 2026–2030, emphasizing the strategic focus on developing artificial intelligence. He urged American firms to take a closer look at the opportunities Chad offers and to move toward signing memorandums of understanding to formalize cooperation in telecommunications and digital transformation. The discussion also touched on the need to improve connectivity and modernize national infrastructure.

While no specific companies were mentioned during this meeting, several U.S. technology firms have already shown concrete interest in Africa’s digital landscape. Among them is Cybastion, which operates in Benin, Burkina Faso, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. The company recently opened a Guinean office as part of its broader push into African markets. Its work usually centers on its Digital Fast Track program, described as an accelerated roadmap for national digital transformation. The initiative is built around four pillars: cybersecurity, digital services, digital infrastructure and digital-skills training.

Other major American technology companies are also eyeing Africa, including Amazon, which is expanding its cloud services and preparing to launch a low-orbit satellite internet service; Cisco, active in digital transformation and training; and Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, Oracle and OpenAI.

Chad’s government recently unveiled a national development strategy called “Tchad Connexion 2030,” which includes $1.5 billion in planned digital investments. The initiative aims to “position Chad among Africa’s leading economies within six years and expand coverage to connect most Chadians.” It calls for the digitization and interconnection of all major public and semi-public services so that citizens have access to a full suite of e-government services.

For now, Chad ranks 189th out of 193 countries in the U.N.’s 2024 E-Government Development Index, with a score of 0.1785, below both African and global averages. The country also sits in the second-to-last tier of the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index. In 2024, Chad placed 47th out of 47 African countries in the ITU’s ICT Development Index, with a score of 21.3 out of 100. The same source shows that 2G, 3G and 4G covered 86.9 %, 84.5 % and 60 % of the population, respectively. DataReportal estimates that, at the start of 2025, Chad had 14.5 million mobile-phone subscribers—an adoption rate of 69.8 %—and 2.74 million internet users, or 13.2 % of the population. As a landlocked country, Chad continues to face constraints in securing reliable international bandwidth, which affects internet quality and availability.

Officials stressed that talks between the two sides are still at an early stage, and concrete outcomes will depend on future developments. The business climate was raised as a key concern. The U.S. chargé d’affaires underscored the importance of transparency in awarding public contracts, a point the minister addressed by recalling the firm directives of President Mahamat Idriss Déby to ensure procedures that align with good-governance principles.