'Moo-ney' transfer: Chad paying $100m Angola debt with cattle

Hard hit by the drastic fall in oil prices, Chad and Angola have found an unusual way to honour their financial commitments.

Chad has committed to deliver 75,000 cattle to Angola over six years to repay a debt of $100 million contracted in 2017. This is equivalent to about $1,300 per cow.

More than 1,000 cows arrived this week by boat in Luanda as the first payment, according to the Official Gazette of Angola. An additional 3,000 herd of cattle will arrive by the end of March 2020.

This unusual barter agreement is a win-win situation for both countries: Chad lacks money while Angola needs cattle. According to the director of the Institute of Veterinary Services, the agreement provides for the delivery of 3,500 head of cattle each quarter.

In this way, Angola hopes to rebuild its livestock which was decimated by drought and famine.

Chad, for its part, is a major cattle breeder, with an estimated 94 million head of cattle. It is one of its main sources of foreign exchange, accounting for nearly 30% of its exports.