From Chad, CEOAFRICA.com gathered that the country’s Oil Minister announced the suspension of a Chinese state-run oil firm for causing environmental damage.

Speaking regarding the incident, Djerassem Le Bemadjiel blamed the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for an oil spill in several sites near a forest.

The decision to suspend the oil firm was taken after officials visited Koudalwa, some 200km (125 miles) south of N'Djamena to see the level of damages already caused by the oil spill.

Sources said the Minister told press crew that the Chinese exploration unit dug huge trenches and let oil flow into them, and then had it removed by local workers without protective gear, stressing that the managers at the company would be held responsible for the violations.

It was learnt that Chad became an oil-producing nation in 2003 with the completion of a $4bn (£2.6bn) pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast.