Sage Panda × CNPCIC
Localized Communication for the Chad “Road of Life” Restoration Project
Event Background
The 126-kilometer road from Ronier to Djouman in southern Chad serves as the only main artery for tens of thousands of residents along the route to transport supplies, herd, and migrate. It is known as the “Road of Life”.
During the rainy season in 2024 (starting September 2), the road was hit by the most severe rainfall in 74 years, causing damage to 13 sections of the road. The deepest damage reached 3.2 meters and the longest spanned 70 meters, completely cutting off the road.
Chain Impact
It caused blocked migration routes for herders, shortages of essential supplies (gasoline/diesel prices tripled), and suspension of medical access and schooling for residents, leading to a rising risk of negative public opinion.
Real Details
Vehicles mobilized for road repair.
Real Outcomes
Group photo of the Sino-Chadian engineering team.
Sage Panda’s Core Actions
Topic Anchoring
Rather than simply reporting “CNPCIC repaired a road,” we anchored a story with the headline of “Rebirth of the Road of Life: China and Chad Joined Hands to Overcome the Rainy Season Crisis” to tie the engineering efforts to local residents’ “survival needs”, evoking empathy.
Content Design
Real details: We used images and texts to present the scenes on the repair site, including employees of the Chinese enterprise “rolling up pants and carrying sandbags barefoot,” and “riding bicycles to survey tens of kilometers of damaged road sections”. We used vivid scenes in place of generic statements.
Real collaboration: We highlighted the report on the “Sino-Chadian joint team”. CNPCIC took the initiative to coordinate with Chinese enterprises such as GBI, CSI, and CGWIC, and worked with the local government and community residents to participate in the repair together.
Real outcomes: The “images of the site before and after restoration” were attached, using visual evidence to demonstrate value.
Media Placement
We chose placement in nationally circulated French newspapers in Chad (reaching government officials, intellectuals, community leaders, and other core groups), rather than limiting coverage to Chinese media, ensuring communication reached local decision-makers and residents.
Case Outcomes
Improved People’s Livelihood
After restoration, over 20,000 residents across 5 villages along the route resumed normal life, and local residents celebrated alongside repair vehicles. This case became a model of Chinese enterprises “integrating with local communities”.
Enhanced Brand and National Image
Local residents described CNPCIC as “a warm company that not only invests, but cares about our lives”. This case supported the implementation of subsequent projects. CNPCIC built in Chad an oil field with an annual production of 6 million tons of crude oil, a 508-km pipeline, and a refinery with an annual processing capacity of 1 million tons, laying the foundation for local energy security and economic growth.
Reusable Communication
We refined the SOP for Communicating Overseas Livelihood Events of Central State-owned Enterprises:
1. Rapid response (planning activation within 72 hours of the crisis)
2. Local perspective (centered on resident stories, not a corporate perspective)
3. Data-backed validation (validating results through data on livelihood improvements)
4. Multi-media collaboration (integrating local authoritative paper media, television stations, and community activities)