The World Bank tried to change the situation in the country back in 2000 when it helped to finance a pipeline from Chad to Cameroon, with the requirement that proceeds address the countries' poverty. The country ranks fourth from the bottom in terms of human development according to the United Nations, and since 2000 there has been little benefit gained from the pipeline that the World Bank helped to fund.

So if the World Bank was not able to help impact living conditions for the country, how can we expect China to, and is it really planning to do this in the first place? China says yes. It already has plans to build a cement factory and a refinery in Chad which will help the country fight off high import costs it now faces. China points toward Sudan as an example of where it sees Chad going. Sudan is developing fast, with paved roads, more cars, and an overall improved lifestyle.

But having said that, even Dou Lirong, the Chinese general manager of C.N.P.C. International in Chad, will not let himself get painted into a corner promising big changes for the people of Chad. When asked if he feels that oil revenues will trickle down to the country's poor, he responded that authority over revenues are a complicated issue, and one that he was not too familiar with in that country, but that he had "read a little bit on the Web." Not exactly the most positive answer I would have liked to hear, but I still think that the Chinese impact will be felt, and it will be a favorable impact.

I am still not 100% sure where I stand in this debate. Is Chinese development going to help the people of Chad, or will the country's investments into the area only result in fatter pockets for the corrupt leaders? Maybe the best-case scenario in this situation is that a little of both will occur, but is that good enough?

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.