S., France and publicity, Chad was able to renegotiate more favorable contracts with the Bank, expropriate over $450 million in taxes from the private Consortium firms which they claim they had already paid, under the threat of replacement with Chinese firms. Global oil prices spiked, and Chad cleared over $1 billion in revenues in the last year of the Bank's project in 2008. Much of this increased income coincided at least with increased arms imports (Winters & Gould 2011: 240), no-bid contracts awarded to tribal Deby allies, pork projects like a new stadium and "inferior goods purchased at inflated prices" (Winters & Gould 2011: 236). The Bank itself admits its objective of "reducing poverty and improving governance in Chad" with the revenues from the pipeline "was not achieved" (Thomas 2009: n.p.). "[T]he principal reason for its overall disappointing outcome was the lack of government ownership," concludes independent evaluator Vinod Thomas...
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