Should international development assistance from the World Bank for two of the poorest countries in Africa be used to support the world's richest oil companies? An international consortium consisting of Exxon, Shell and ELF is planning a multi-billion dollar oil exploitation project with serious environmental and social risks that many fear may create another Ogoniland, Nigeria's oil-producing region marked by environmental devastation and brutal human rights violations. The oil project is in Chad and Cameroon, two countries that have few democratic freedoms for its people.

The project consists of the development of oil-fields in southern Chad, and building a 600 mile pipeline through Cameroon for export. But there is a hitch. The project won't go forward unless it is supported by public funding from the World Bank

Exxon, the leader of the consortium, refers to the World Bank as the foundation of the financing structure for the entire project. World Bank officials confirm that the project hinges on their participation because the companies need the World Bank involved to reduce the financial risk of investing in the politically volatile region and to solicit other investors.

The World Bank, whose stated mission is to alleviate poverty and to promote sustainable development, is right now seriously considering financing this project, even though its environmental staff have unanimously rejected the Environmental Assessment and have expressed strong reservations about supporting it. The World Bank's Board of Directors is expected to make a final decision about this project later this year, but the Bank is likely to give an informal go ahead in the next few weeks. Exxon is sending a small army of lobbyists to Washington, DC to put pressure on the World Bank to give its commitment to the project.

The World Bank claims that the project will alleviate poverty because revenue from the oil development can be spent on poverty programs. But since both Governments have problems with corruption, the local communities have little faith that they will see any of the money from oil development.

These countries also suffer from human rights problems. The international press reports that Chadian government forces have resorted to indiscriminate killings and repression of the civilian population in the project area. A parlimentarian who spoke out against the project was recently jailed for three years in Chad.

The 600-mile underground pipeline through Cameroon will pass through ecologically fragile rainforest areas, including an area that is the home of a Pygmy minority of traditional hunters and gatherers. An uncontrollable influx of people in search of work will gather at the construction sites. As a result, deforestation, wildlife poaching, and the loss of farmland will be replaced by construction activities that will create a destructive environmental legacy. The pipeline itself, even with state-of-the art equipment, poses a danger of groundwater contamination and pollution of important regional river systems as crude oil containing heavy metals leaks into the environment.

The project also promotes the development of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions, the leading cause of global climate change. The World Bank should not be financing the exacerbation of climate change, but should be financing projects that reduce carbon emissions and lead to more sustainable forms of energy development.

People in Chad and in Cameroon are poor and in need of assistance that will improve their livelihoods and chances for future development; not aid that will enrichen transnational oil companies and an elite ruling class. The allocation of aid dollars for each country is limited and World Bank support for the oil project will divert scarce resources away from investments in health, education, environmental protection, and infra-structure that provides clean drinking water and sanitation.

The World Bank should not finance this project at this time as it cannot guarantee that human rights will be respected or that the environment will be protected. Once the money is flowing, the unholy trinity of oil, power and corruption will make corrective action difficult. Instead, the World Bank's resources should be used for projects which have direct, positive impacts on nutrition, health, education, the environment and other priorities of the people of Chad and Cameroon.

Take action today to stop this corporate welfare project. Write the President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, and tell him that the World Bank should support human needs, not corporate wants!

World Bank President Wolfensohn has the power to say no to this project. In early October, the World Bank has its annual meeting. Mr. Wolfensohn should announce at that meeting that the World Bank will not support this project because of its serious environmental and social problems and the lack of freedoms in Chad and Cameroon.

Send your letters, faxes, or email today to:

Mr. James Wolfensohn
President, The World Bank
1818 H. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
Fax: 202-522-1677
Email: cunit3@worldbank.org