Natural Resources and Conflict in
Africa
“If through our wisdom we could secure elementary
human needs, there would be no need for weapons
Of war.”
Mahatma Ghandi
“In DRC rebellion is easy: all you need is ten thousand
dollars and a satellite phone-with 10000 dollars you
could hire a small army and with a satellite you could
start making deals with international resource extraction
companies” Former Late DRC President Laurent Desiree
Kabila
“There should not be a Conga for the majority and a
separate one for the opposition” DRC President Joseph
Kabila in December 2012
Terms and Concepts
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), defined natural resources as
“natural assets (raw materials) occurring in nature
that can be used for economic production or
consumption (ACCORD 2009).
An armed conflict, according to Uppsala Conflict Data
Programme (UCDP2008 in ACCORD 2009), is
contested incompatibility which concerns
government and/or territory where the use of armed
force between two parties, of which at least one is
the government of a state, resulting in at least
twenty-five battle related deaths in a calendar year.
Terms and Concepts Cntd
• Peacebuilding according to Schellhass &
Seegers (2006) refers to efforts intended to
avoid a relapse into conflict and this opposed
to peacekeeping-activity to ensure compliance
to the conflict agreement. The same authors
also refer to peace making as the activity of
bringing warring parties to an agreement.
Natural Resources-Conflict Nexus
• Consider the role factors and actors in natural
resources exploitation, extraction/harvesting
and consumption.
• Africa is known as a continent that is steeped
in armed conflict and instability, the causes of
which are both diverse and endemic
• The perpetuations of conflicts in Africa over its
natural resources can be blamed on African
leadership and the sinister political and
economic interests of the developed world
Natural Resources-Conflict Nexus-Cntd
• Rich natural resources are taken away from the
African continent at a fraction of their value
• The vast seepage of the net value of African natural
resources into developed nations are a cause of
concern to countries like the DRC where such
resources are looted.
• In many of the protracted conflicts in Africa, the
control, access, and distribution of natural
resources and land is a major underlying issue.
• Poor governance on the party of political leadership
in African is also to blame as the cause and driver of
conflicts over natural resources on the African.
Politics and Economics of Natural
Resources and Conflict
• It is sensible to reexamine the socio-economic
status of the citizens of a particular country that is
plagued by armed conflicts
• The distribution of poverty and inequality
• It is increasingly being recognized that conflict is
generated when certain parts of the population,
groups or communities feel excluded from the
development process.
• The nature of globalization since 1980 has been
that developing countries have broken into the
international market for manufacturers
Politics & Economics Cntd
• Low income, low growth, and dependence
upon natural resources are high risk economic
characteristics of a poor country that is ever
steeped into conflict.
• State failure and state weaknesses are the
sources of contemporary conflicts
Conflict Natural Resources
Characteristics
• Natural resources are characterized by their
proneness to be looted, that is being extracted
informally than through legal channels
• Lootable natural resources are an incentive for
the rebels to harden their positions and
stances
The Case & “Curse "of DRC
• The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) is always poised on the edge of a machete
blade
• Violent armed conflicts related to the extraction
and exploitation of natural resources in the DRC
has been a recurrent feature in Congolese history
• Natural resource wealth is not juxtaposed to the
socio-economic status of the ordinary citizens of
the DRC
DRC Case & Curse
 Diamonds, the DRC’s most valuable export,
are one of the several resources which are
traded illegally to fund rebellion and
perpetuate conflict.
 The abundance of natural resources does not
automatically lead to development and wealth
Case of Conflict Resources in Nigeria
• It is all mainly about oil though non-lootable
• longstanding religious and ethnic tensions,
corruption in the government, civilian unrest
in regard to multinational oil companies in
regard to their operations within the country
• Though Nigeria is one of the world’s largest
producers of oil, over half of the country’s
population lives below the poverty line.
Recommendations
• There is also the need for the radicalization of
development, that is , the commitment to
conflict resolution and the reconstruction of
societies and the process should see a change
in working towards a common goal, a peaceful
and prosperous future (Duffield 2001)
• Development aid and foreign direct
investment in Africa should achieve pro-poor
growth as opposed to just economic growth.
Recommendations Cntd
 Pro-poor development strategies must tackle those
structures that constrain development and cause
poverty.
 Development aid must be turned upside down-aid
must get away from the project approach and aim
at local empowerment
 There is need to develop institutions in which the
poor are represented
Recommendations
Ultimately, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability,
when state institutions do not adequately protect citizens,
guard against corruption, or provide access to justice, when
markets do not provide job opportunities, or when
communities have lost social cohesion, the likelihood of
violent conflict increases.(World Bank 2011)
Parting Qoute
When we the Asian nations were struggling for a
place in the economic sun, private investors from
developed nations came and helped to establish
industries and businesses that brought benefits to
all. This is what Africa has missed out……. This is
mankind’s greatest challenge. Africa today stands as
one of the final frontiers of economic development.
Unfortunately for many in the developed world and
in the fast growing economies of the east and
elsewhere Africa is still an unknown continent”
Former Malaysian Prime Minister- Mahatma bin
Mohamad-25/10/1999-Africa-Asia Business Forum
Many thank Us
Thank you!
Dankie!
Siyabonga,
Tatenda,
Twalumba,
Zikomo Kwambiri