Newspapers in Chad
According to ENINGBO.INFO, Chad is a country located in Africa. The newspaper distribution in Chad is very small. The country’s only daily newspaper is the French-language Info-Chad, published by the state news agency.
The state-owned company Radiodiffusion Nationale Chadienne (RNT) broadcasts radio in French, Arabic and eight local languages in two national channels and local stations in Abéché, Moundou and Sarh. TV broadcasts from Télé-Chad only reach the area around N’Djamena. There are 236 radio and 1 TV receivers per 1,000 residents (2000).
Culture
According to ALLUNITCONVERTERS, many Chadian peoples are prominent in crafts such as tissue, wood carving, silver and gold forging, leather work and more. Decorated gourds are used among other things as musical instruments. The village of Gaoui outside the capital N’Djamena is famous for its pottery.
Music and dance are important elements in many Chadian cultures. In the Tibi Mountains in the north, ceremonial music is played with lute and violin, while drums and wind instruments are common in Kanem in the west. The Fulani people use flutes, or reeds, made of straw.
The tradition of oral folk legends is strong. The Griots – singing storytellers – in front of the traditional songs and poems of the Arab people to the accompaniment of five-stringed kinde, a resin-like instrument. They also use trumpets made of antelope.
Chad has several prominent writers. Among them is Joseph Brahim Seid, who wrote the autobiography Un enfant du Chad (1967). Serge Issa Coelo has been named the country’s foremost filmmaker and Mahamat-Saleh Haroun attracted attention in 2003 with his film Bye Bye Africa.
2017
December
Elections are promised during 2018
December 31st
President Déby states in a televised speech that parliamentary elections will be held in 2018. Déby also announces that an “inclusive national forum” will be formed to bring together all the country’s political organizations in a reform effort. The opposition that had previously mocked Déby when he postponed the elections with reference to the fact that money is being taken in the Treasury has no comment on the president’s performance this time. The elections were actually held in 2015.
November
Visas abolished between neighboring countries
November 1st
The members of Cemac (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville) announce that the internal visa-free agreement has now been ratified by all member states and will therefore be implemented. The agreement has been missing for 15 years through negotiations. The process has dragged on the time when the oil countries of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were worried about being flooded by job seekers from neighboring countries. Now, however, these countries have also ratified the agreement.
New force against terrorists active
November 1st
The five-nation G5 Sahel force formed to fight jihadism begins its work (see February 2017). Soldiers from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso gather for a first operation in the border region where the three countries meet, French military reports. Mauritania and Chad are also part of the G5 Sahel. The plan is for the force to include 5,000 soldiers in March 2018.
October
Chad brings home soldiers from Niger
October 12
Chad is reported to have taken home hundreds of Nigerian soldiers over the past two weeks, taking part in the fight against Boko Haram. No explanation is given, but troop withdrawal occurs shortly after Chadian citizens are banned from entering the United States. The government of Chad has said that this could interfere with the country’s involvement in the US-backed international effort against the Islamist guerrilla. Residents of the Diffar region of Niger claim that the reduced Chadian effort is already being noticed in the form of an increased number of raids by Boko Haram.
September
US entry ban setback for Chad
September 25
The government is reacting angrily to the news that Chad has been placed on the list of countries whose residents are banned from entry into the United States. The government calls on US President Donald Trump to reconsider the decision, which, according to the government, “seriously harms the image of Chad and the good relations between the countries, especially the cooperation on terrorism”.
June
Opposition politicians imprisoned
June 28
Former presidential candidate Laoukein Médard, mayor of the city of Moundou, the country’s economic center, is accused of embezzlement and dismissed by the city council, the French radio channel RFI reports. Médard is arrested a few weeks later by police and imprisoned. When his followers try to visit him in prison in August, they are also temporarily arrested.
Green light for G5 Sahel strength
21 June
The UN Security Council adopts a resolution that sets the tone for the military force decided by the G5 Sahel states in February. However, there will be no direct UN mandate, as advocated by France. The United States considers that such a mandate is not needed as the force must adhere to the territories of the participating countries. The force will have its headquarters in Mali. According to plans, it will consist of 10,000 police and soldiers and be up and running by the end of the year. The EU has pledged EUR 50 million in support of the new force.
February
New regional counter-terrorism force is planned
6th of February
Leaders from the G5 Sahel states – Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania – decide at a meeting in Bamako to establish a new regional force to fight extreme Islamist groups. The force must be cleared of the UN and, according to hopes, will be financed by European countries, which is justified by the fact that it would save the lives of European soldiers.
Film director becomes minister
6th of February
In a government transformation, prompted by Foreign Minister Faki Mahamat to be chaired by the AU Commission, Chad’s leading film director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is named Minister of Culture. Haroun has been awarded at the Cannes festival and a couple of his films have also been shown in Sweden. New Foreign Minister will be Hissein Brahim Taha, who was most recently an ambassador to Paris.
January
Chadier heads the AU
30th of January
Chad’s Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat is elected new chairman of the AU Commission. He succeeds South African Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the African Union’s highest chief. Faki has also previously been Prime Minister of Chad. He promises to simplify the AU’s heavy-handed bureaucracy during his four years as commission chairman.
