- Introduction, General Overview, & Thesis Statement.
The Central – African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is richly endowed with minerals and natural resources. Despite the presence of these endowments, this population of this country continues to live in abject poverty. The country has had a gruesome history since the colonial period. King Leopold of Belgium was allowed to colonize the country during the Berlin Conference of 1884 that was intended to partition Africa among various European powers. Despite never setting foot in Africa, King Leopold of Belgium treated Congo as his own property. His colonization process was characterized by the massive extraction of raw materials from the Congo and taking them to Europe to create manufactured goods. Some of the manufactured goods that were produced in Belgium were sold to Africans in Congo at much higher prices. In order to successfully extract resources from Congo Kinshasa, millions of people were displaced from their lands, killed, or sold to the Americas and Europe as slaves. Many of the gruesome acts conducted on the Africans in the Congo under Leopold remain untold to date. Even after the acquisition of independence in DRC, the country remains war torn over natural resources in the country. Schaffer explains that “since the 1990s the conflict in the DRC has been responsible for the most amounts of deaths since WWII”. In the light of this, my paper will discuss the economic causes of the war as well as the effects the war has had on the conflict.
- Argumentation: Body of Paper.
First of all, it is important to understand that despite the attainment of independence in DRC, western powers including Belgium continue to have influence on the country’s natural resources. This means that despite the natural resources being located in Congo, the resources continue to benefit European powers. Various European powers have contracts in the mining process of natural resources in the Congo. The profits that are reaped from this mining process are ploughed back to European economies. The few rewards emanating from the leasing of mines to European powers are paid to the Congolese government. One thing that is important to realize is that any government has an important role to play in improving the market income. By letting large foreign companies in the Congo to mine minerals such as gold and Diamond, domestic small-scale companies are unable to compete because they are inefficient producers based on things such as the inadequacy of technological endowments. This means that the DRC government does not provide enough economic initiatives that allow domestic populations and producers to benefit from their own resources.
Secondly, it is worth-noting that the revenue that the government of DRC obtains from natural resources is not used in the improvement of the quality of lives of the people. Instead, as a result of rampant corruption in the country the profits end up in the hands of the elites who continue to benefit from the export-led economy of their natural resources (Alao 33). The tensions that arise in the country are based on the fact that the poor citizenry in the country are concerned that there quality of lives remain low despite the economic value of the resources in the country. As a result of the mistrust between the government of DRC and the citizenry regarding the misappropriations of the finances resulting from the natural resources in the country, various populist militia groups have resulted with the aim of taking over these resources. This clamor for resources has led to the growth of various factions whose agenda is to gain control of the natural resources in the country. Considering that government is legally responsible for state resources, war has continued to escalate between government forces and various militias that are in control of resources. Other small-scale wars have been between different civilian factions seeking to control resources in DRC.
The effect of this continued strife over natural resources has been the scaring away of investors in the country. Investors cannot risk investing in a country that is instable as a result of war. The instability of DRC has led to the continued repositioning of portfolio investments in government corporations. Stockbrokers and shareholders have exited the market as a result of market uncertainty. The most severe effect of the instability of DRC as result of the war has been the reduction of Foreign Direct Investments in the country. Fewer foreign investors are attracted to DRC because of the insecurities that are posed by perpetual war in the country (Schnurr 29).
It is worth noting that at the height of conflict in the Congo some elites have continued to reap benefit from the DRC’s resources (DeRouen 118).Various cartels have been formulated by top government official in the country with neighboring nations such as Uganda and Rwanda. The resources in DRC have found their way into these countries through the black-market. As a result of the benefits resulting from the war, different government officials in the DRC there is no imperative by leaders in the country to end the war in the country. Perpetual war in the country means that they can continue to reap more benefit.
- Solution to the problem facing DRC
The solution to the war in DRC has not come from within the country. The government of DRC has to get its legitimacy from the people. Based on the idea of the democratic social contract, the government should work towards improving the lives of its people. This can be achieved through the reduction of corruption in government ranks. In this way, the profits reaped from the resources can be able to benefit the grassroots. Secondly, there is a need for negotiations and peace agreements between the warring factions in DRC. In this way, the country can be able to engage in national healing and reconciliation, which would be able to allow the recovery of the country’s economy.
Works Cited
Alao, Abiodun. Natural resources and conflict in Africa: the tragedy of endowment. Rochester, NY: Rochester Press, 2007. Print.
DeRouen, Karl R. Civil wars of the world: major conflicts since World War II. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Print.
Schaffer, Richard. International business law and its environment. 4th ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: West Educational Publishing Company, 2009. Print.
Schnurr, Matthew A. Natural Resources and Social Conflict. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
