Africa's new model for spreading oil wealth

That's what happened in Meurmeouel. Villagers were hired to help build the school. The construction firm also bought bricks from local brick makers. And after the building was finished, villagers realized they needed yet another classroom. So they pooled their profits and spent about $50 to build an addition to the school, a one-room building with a tin roof. Even the chief, who's a brick mason, pitched in.

In Meurmeouel and elsewhere, oil revenues have sparked a great sense of possibility. But even with its new bonanza, Chad won't be rich. Per capita income is $250 per year - or 73 cents a day - according to the World Bank. That's expected to rise to $550 per year by 2005. Chad ranks 167th out of 177 countries on the 2004 United Nations Human Development Index. Electricity, paved roads, and clean water are rare.

And skeptics say that despite the new revenue model, life won't change much for the masses - only the elites. They worry the citizens committee won't be independent of the authoritarian regime and point out, for instance, that President Idriss Deby's brother is on the panel. The authoritarian president is used to getting his way: He's changing the Constitution to let himself run for a third term. And in 2000 he reportedly spent $4 million of a $25 million oil-deal "signing bonus" on military supplies.

But the World Bank, in a calculated gamble, figures Chad's leaders would risk too much by trying to skim money for themselves. Even with oil revenues, Chad will still rely heavily on outside aid to fund even basic services. "If they are going to renege on their commitment, it would jeopardize relations with the World Bank and other donors," says Gregor Binkert, the World Bank country director here.

Meanwhile, other African nations are tilting toward the Chad model.

On Africa's West coast, for instance, the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe has been debating a new law intended to bring transparency to oil revenues. The country also struck a deal with Nigeria to release regular audited financial reports for an oil-rich coastal zone both countries are developing.

The driving force behind these moves is clear: Inequalities created by elites skimming oil profits can spark social strife, which interrupts the flow of oil.

Oil facilities in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, are regularly attacked by militants. This often forces their shutdown, causing 10 to 40 percent declines in Nigeria's production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day.

In oil-rich Angola, watchdog groups warn that some $4 billion went missing because of corruption or mismanagement between 1997 and 2002, even as 3.7 million citizens are malnourished. Yawning rich-poor gaps like this set the stage for civil strife.

Given these pressures, even the multinational oil firms that have long been accused of abetting corruption may be changing. In Chad they've agreed to disclose what they're paying the government for oil contracts. It's something they've resisted elsewhere, saying it hinders their ability to compete with rivals that are willing to pay bribes.

Meanwhile, in a sign of Meurmeouel's entry into the modern era, residents are now dealing with two problems faced by countless US cities: school overcrowding and a teacher shortage.

Parents from nearby villages now covet a spot for their kids at Meurmeouel's school, forcing the village to continue using its old wood-and-straw classroom.

And many area teachers are getting oil-company jobs, so it's not clear Meurmeouel will have any adults standing at the chalkboard this fall. In fact, villagers are gearing up to raise teacher salaries above the current $36 a year. "It's the last solution to keep teachers in the village," says Mr. Souleingar, the farmer. But it must be done, he says, because "education is our first priority."

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