Resource Exploitation & Peace-Building in the D.R.C.

The exploitation of resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has destabilized the political system.

BY YINUO GENG

The history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mired in corruption, self-interest and war, has not been a happy one for its civilians. Since colonial times under the rule of the Belgians, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have seen the wealth of their land siphoned away. The curse of natural resources meant that while the vast amount of gold, diamond, coltan, copper and cobalt should have brought the populace out of poverty, they have instead rewarded only elites and foreign powers. Despite several attempts at peace agreements involving many of the actors, and the deployment of the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, tensions in the country continue to create instability.

Exploitation of Congo’s natural wealth occurred, and continues to occur, on a large scale. In fact, the Congo War, or wars as some analysts have called it, was self-financing. As such, while the illegal trade of primary commodities may not have been a cause of the war, there certainly developed an economic aspect that has prolonged the conflict by creating incentives for belligerents to maintain a chaotic state for self-interested resource extraction. Even as the rebels led by General Nkunda continue to fight toward Goma with the claim of protecting Tutsis against Hutu atrocities at the end of October 2008, aid agencies told the BBC that the fighting was also for control of the abundant supply of natural resources in the eastern Congo. Politics and economics in the DRC have thus been shaped by the exploitation of such resources. Mismanagement and corruption have led to the flourishing of informal economies that are easily exploited against the interests of the great majority of Congolese people.

The original root causes of the conflict have become overwhelmed by vicious atrocities and the addicting financial power of resource control. Those same root causes – ethnic tensions and land claims – have become increasingly difficult to resolve without the political will of elites and foreign powers who have, instead, continued to benefit economically. François Grignon’s article on Economic Agendas in the Congolese Peace Process analyzed how “economic interests have been integrated into the peace process and become a virtual ‘hidden script’ whereby belligerents cooperated with each other and their foreign governmental patrons to protect and disguise their own and their patrons’ economic interests.” Consequently, economic interests are obstacles to long-term peace not only because they are an incentive to continue the chaotic situation of war, but also because they are not being managed within current peace processes.
Among the Congo’s vast resources, colombo-tantalum (also known as coltan), gold and diamonds have been of particular interest due to their “loot-able” nature. Coltan has been especially important because coltan, once refined into tantalum, is a critical component in the production of most high-tech equipments. The loot-able aspect of these minerals means that these products can be mined by unskilled artisan labourers and smuggled across borders without large-scale, capital-intensive industrial production. Furthermore, these three resources also have low weight-to-value ratios so that they are cheaply extracted and easily plundered, making them extremely profitable during times of war. This, of course, creates an enticement for belligerents to continue the exploitation during war situations to escape government regulations.

Despite the creation of the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in 2000, there remains a lack of emphasis on the resources issue within the peace process. How important is the wealth from the DRC’s natural resources to each belligerent’s interest in continuing war? Without incorporating the economic agendas concretely within the peace process, this is a difficult question to answer. The UN report, besides indicating the role of local actors, also recognized the economic attraction in the DRC for regional and international actors.

Regional actors, such as Rwanda and Uganda, have sent troops not only for political or ideological purposes, but also for the control of important diamond mines. Many western multinational companies, named and shamed in the UN report, maintain the exploitation of the DRC’s natural resources at the expense of the well being of civilians as well. Unfortunately, western governments protected several major multinational companies that engaged in illegal and exploitative activities during the war in the DRC, and their names were excluded in the UN Report to prevent embarrassment. Nonetheless, the acknowledgement of misconduct by multinational companies places pressure on foreign companies that wish to profit from the DRC’s vast resources, to invest according to the standards of international law.

What can be done? Other than analyzing, monitoring and speaking out, all actors also have a role in ensuring that exploited natural resources have no market for sale. The Kimberley Process, even with all its failings, is a good start. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme seeks to prevent the trade of illicit diamonds, which have caused the loss of so many lives in so many crisis situations. The certification scheme attempts to halt trafficking by requiring all extracted diamonds to have a certificate stating their mine of origin. Notwithstanding its obvious faults caused by a lack of administration in many war-torn areas, the Kimberley Process is a step in the direction of curbing economic incentives for war by making all companies along the diamond supply chain (technically) responsible for meeting standards of certification. Such standards, properly applied, are the beginnings of decreased incentives for resource exploitation in general. The international community can also seek to invest legally in the Congo’s resources so that profits go to the public and not into private hands.

If state institutions within the DRC are to become capable and effective, the economic factors cannot be ignored. If illegal resource exploitations and corruption are stopped, then such revenues can enter the appropriate channels and be used for the strengthening of those institutions. Being clear with economic investments will lay the foundation for better patterns of governance and for more sustainable development. When civil servants and soldiers receive proper pay, they can then have the motivation to do their jobs.

Major actors that seek to reach a solution to the root causes of the Congo War have agreed to peace accords. However, those peace deals have not been able to successfully and explicitly address economic concerns and have, instead, provided an opportunity for belligerents and foreign actors to continue exploitation. Thus, it is only when the incentives to illegally exploit are undermined that the road to long-term stable peace can continue. Therefore, the economic incentives for prolonging the Congo conflict have to be prominently recognized. Only then can the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue its journey toward becoming a stable and secure state.

Yinuo Geng is a 4th-year Victoria College student, jointly specializing in Peace and Conflict Studies and International Relations, and minoring in philosophy.