CHAD’S PRIME MINISTER ON HIS COUNTRY’S CIVILIAN TRANSITION AND ROLE IN AFRICA - The Atlantic Council hosted an #ACFrontPage conversation featuring Succès Masra, prime minister of the Republic of Chad. The unexpected appointment of Masra as the prime minister of Chad in January 2024 provoked mixed reactions. Masra, the leader of the Transformers party, played a crucial role in organizing the October 2022 “Black Thursday” protests against the military government. He subsequently fled Chad after the violent crackdown that followed. However, with Masra having reached an agreement with Chad’s military leaders and elections scheduled for October this year, there is hope for the restoration of civilian rule to Chad. The question now arises: What role will the forty-year-old former chief economist of the African Development Bank Group play?

This transition is unfolding in the broader context of the French withdrawal across the Sahel, an area marked by a series of recent coups installing military juntas, and the ongoing civil war in neighboring Sudan. Chad remains one of the West’s key security partners in the region.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 02/28/2024