Illegal Trading of Raw Materials and Civil Conflict in Africa - Research Paper Example

ILLEGAL TRADING OF RAW MATERIALS AND CIVIL CONFLICT IN AFRICA 0. INTRODUCTION As the contemporary period is marked by developments and progress inthe field of science and technology which in turn, pave the way for a chance to have a better quality of life for people all over the world, there is a part of the world that is still bereft with “poverty, backwardness and violence” (Draman, 2001) – Africa. These conditions are viewed as caused by multifactor, which includes religion, ethnicity, weak state, corruption, political instability, poor infrastructures, civil conflicts and lack of governmental support or even lack of legitimate government itself (Haynes, 2007; Spears, 2000; Alao & Olonasakin, n.d). Being such, the dire condition of the continent necessitates an innovative approach in tackling the problems as only 6 out of the 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have the capacity of managing conflicts (Draman, 2001). Responding to this situation, this paper intends to look into one of the most pressing problems of Africa –civil conflict. Just as poverty, backwardness and violence in Africa are caused by several factors, the civil conflict experienced by most of the countries in the continent is said to be caused by the following reasons: “democracy or democratization, natural resources and ethnicity and religion”(Lacina, 2004:194). Understanding these factors that contribute to the perpetuation of civil conflict in most Sub-Saharan countries is significant as it does not only maintain poverty and backwardness but it is also the root of the atrocities committed against humanity, which have shocked human consciousness in the contemporary period, and an instance of it is the Rwanda genocide. Being such, this paper will to attempt to see the correlation between civil conflict and raw materials illegally trade. As such, the primary question that this paper intends to address is “How the illegal trading of raw materials contributes to civil conflicts in Africa? In order to address this question, the paper will touch on several concepts and theories that will provide the means with which the correlation between illegal trade of raw materials and civil conflict in Africa may be clarified. However, it should be noted that in focusing on the correlation of illegal trading of raw materials with the civil conflict in Africa it does not imply that the other factors are of less importance. The paper holds that all factors, which contribute, or a lead to civil conflict deserves a thorough elucidation. However, for purposes of limitation, this paper will only deal with illegal trading of raw material and civil conflicts. In the end, it is the hope of the paper that it may add to the existing effort in helping peoples in Africa. 1.1 NATURAL RESOUCES: IN FOCUS Africa is a continent endowed with much natural resources (Shaxson, 2005). Current scholarly works have focused on the role of natural resources in instigating, fuelling and maintaining civil conflicts in Africa (Collier & Hoeffler 1998, 2004; de Soysa 2002;Ross, 2004, 2006; Le Billon, 2001, 2005). The interest in connecting natural resources with civil conflict is “motivated by by a series of high-profile conflicts – in Angola, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan – that have captured the attention of both international organizations and the media” (Ross, 2004: 337). However, according to Ross (2004), there is a seeming disagreement among the scholars regarding the role or extent of contribution of natural resources to civil conflicts. Nonetheless, several patterns have been observed and has created categories with which the role of natural resources maybe clarified, one of which is the distinction between primary commodities which includes oil, non-fuel minerals and agricultural goods (Collier & Hoeffler 1998, 2004; ;Ross, 2004, 2006; Alao & Olonasakin, nd). And ‘lootable commodities’ which include diamonds, gemstones and drugs (Collier & Hoeffler 1998, 2004; ;Ross, 2004, 2006; Alao & Olonasakin, nd). From this distinction of the natural resources, a further differentiation has been made. The delineation pertains to the identification and demarcation of the commodities pertinent to which of the commodities can instigate a conflict and which can be used to sustain a civil conflict. It is claimed that primary commodities can caused and instigate civil war and /or civil conflict (Collier & Hoeffler 1998, 2004; Ross, 2004, 2006; Alao & Olonasakin, nd). Although, according to Ross (2004) scholars disagree regarding the impact of primary commodities specially oil in the onset of civil conflict or civil war, nonetheless, there seems to be a strong evidence which points to the important role of oil in most secessionists or separatists movements. Table I. Mineral Resources and Secessionist Movements Country Region Duration Resources Angola Cabinda 1975– Oil Burma Hill tribes 1949– Tin, gems Democratic Republic of Congo Katanga/Shaba 1960–65 Copper Indonesia West Papua 1969– Copper, gold Indonesia Aceh 1975– Natural gas Morocco West Sahara 1975–88 Phosphates, oil Nigeria Biafra 1967–70 Oil Papua New Guinea Bougainville 1988– Copper, gold Sudan South 1983– Oil SOURCE: Ross, 2004 This table shows that among countries in Africa that is conflict, the common natural resource that is associated with the onset of the conflict or secession is oil. The next question is Why oil? Oil is considered as the natural resource that can cause conflict because of the following reasons. First, discovery of such natural resource can create an incentive to establish a sovereign state (Ross, 2004). Second, the concentration of natural resource like oil creates the need for the establishment of a ‘sovereign state’ since only if the locality where the oil is concentrated is deemed as sovereign it is only then that it can attract and convince foreign investors (Le Billon, 2001; Ross, 2004). And finally, third, “resources are more likely to provoke separatist rebellions if they are extracted through a capital-intensive process, which offers fewer benefits to local, unskilled workers and more benefits to the state and large extraction firms” (Ross, 2004: 344). These reasons provide the framework, which motivate secessionist movements in Africa. In this sense, natural resource, specifically the oil, acting as a prime impetus for conflict have created the notion of ‘resource curse’ as being experience in Africa (Shaxson, 2007; Olsson,2006). Resource curse primarily because instead of becoming the foundation with which economies of most countries in Africa can gain emancipation from poverty and backwardness, it in fact becomes one of the major considered contributors to civil conflict, violence (Shaxson, 2007;Olsson, 2006). The concept of resource curse is further fortified the moment that attention is turned to the second commodity which is also known as ‘lootable commodity’. ‘Lootable commodity’ includes diamonds, timber, gemstones and drugs (Collier & Hoeffler 1998, 2004; ;Ross, 2004, 2006; Alao & Olonasakin, nd). Studies have shown that lootable commodities do not instigate civil conflicts or civil wars (Ross, 2004, 2006). However, it is clear ‘lootable commodities’, especially diamonds, can sustain and prolonged conflicts and civil wars ( Ross, 2004; ; Alao & Olonasakin, nd). This is due to the fact that the sale of diamonds and gems allow parties in conflict to financed their operations and “hence continue fighting instead of being crushed or forced to the negotiating table” (Ross, 2004: 346). The second question that comes to the fore is how can lootable commodities sustain and prolong conflicts? 1.2. LOOTABLE COMMODITY: DIAMONDS AND ITS ILLEGAL TRADE Several low-income countries including “Angola (diamonds), Bolivia (tin), Botswana (diamonds), Zambia (copper, zinc), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (coltan, copper, diamonds, silver), Ghana (gold, aluminium), Namibia (diamonds), Niger (uranium), Sierra Leone (diamonds) and Sri Lanka (sapphires)” (Olsson, 2006:1134) have an abundant deposits of highly valuable hard minerals. Of the ‘highly valuable hard minerals’, diamond have a “special position” (Olsson, 2006) due to the fact that: first, rough diamond commands a high and stable price in the market. This is due to the influence of the largest diamond company found in Africa – De Beers (Olsson, 2006). Second, rough diamonds are easy to smuggle and exchange because of its size. Third, undeniably, most of the diamonds are found in poor countries with unstable government making it a lot easier for people in war economy to take advantage of the situation (Olsson, 2006). Being such, understanding the illegal trade of diamonds is not just limited to understanding the role of the people actually living in countries plagued by civil conflict. The necessity for understanding the role of the international community in the perpetuation of the illegal trade of diamonds is necessary. Being such, to further clarify the contribution of illegally trade diamonds to civil conflict in Africa, a look in some of its countries is needed – Angola and Sierra Lione. 1.2.1. ANGOLA AND BLOOD DIAMONDS After its independence from Portugal in 1974, Angola since then had been besieged by an atrocious and long civil war. The two opposing sides were the Movimento Popular de Libertaçao de Angola (MPLA) and the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA). In 1992, an election was held where the leader of MPLA, José Eduardo dos Santos won over a slight margin. The leader of UNITA, Jonas Samvibi, did not recognize his presidency. As such, Samvibi initiated a civil war and it had been claimed that the civil war he instigated was mainly to aggrandize himself and his political ideals (Guidolin & La Ferrara, 2007). Since the onset of the civil war between the government of dos Santos and the UNITA, the UNITA strategy is to occupy, as many as possible, lands and areas which are known to have high deposits of diamonds and then using the illegal sale of the diamonds to finance their purchases of weapon (Guidolin & La Ferrara, 2007). UNITA’s focused on diamonds is not surprising since Angola is the fourth largest producer of diamonds in the world. Angolan diamonds are found in alluvial deposits or near river beds which are a lot easier to extract simply by using light machineries and river diversification. The minimal capitalization needed to get the diamonds made the process of extraction of diamonds uncomplicated for rebel groups and as such gain control over the production and sales of the diamonds (Le Billon, 2001: Guidolin & La Ferrara, 2007). Moreover, Angolan diamonds are known for its very good quality. Thus it is not surprising that in year 2000,”Angolan diamond sales reached $1.1 billion, i.e., 15 percent of the world production of rough diamonds. This amount was almost equally split between official industrial production, official artisanal production, and illegal production” (Guidolin & La Ferrara, 2007: 1980). In this regard, diamond smuggling and gunrunning are considered as the two important factors that contributed greatly to the prolonged, and ferocious, twenty- seven year civil war in Angola (Orogun, 2004). And the illegal trading of diamonds by UNITA in order to finance their purchase of military weapons, guns, land mines and to sustain their operation has created the concept of conflict diamonds/ blood diamonds and it has caught the attention of the public (Guidolin & La Ferrara, 2007) From the context of rebellion and arm conflicts, the term “blood diamonds” specifically refers to diamonds, which are “extracted and exported from particular regions in Sub-Saharan Africa that are still ravaged by vicious arm conflicts” (Orogun, 2004: 151). The civil conflicts in these countries are instigated by war lords, militiamen, rebel groups that are dependent on the sale of blood diamonds to finance their war. The “illegal sale of diamonds is made in exchange for military weapons, guns, fuel, assorted war materials such as land mines...depending on which estimates are used, blood diamonds represent 4 to 15 percent of the world’s $6.8 billion annual diamond production” (Orogun, 2004: 151). The diamond wealth of lands and areas occupied by UNITA is such that it is able to sustain their operations, to continue purchasing guns and similar artilleries and to instigate attacks. (Orogun, 2004). In fact it is claimed that during the Lusaka process, “UNITA’s export of diamonds ... netted the rebels some $1.72 billion much of which is invested in military supplies, petroleum products, food and medicines” (Oregun, 2004: 152). This condition of blood diamonds is the almost the same in Sierra Leone. 1.2.2. SIERRA LEONE AND BLOOD DIAMONDS Sierra Leone is a country that is gripped with terror by people who talked vaguely of justice and democracy (Smillie, 2002). Foday Sankoh’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) is the sourced of terror that has plagued the country for the past two decades. RUF has terrorised and attacked civilians, non-combatants, leaving in their trail “crudely amputated hands, feet, breasts - was applied only to civilians, many of them women and children.”(Smillie, 2002: 2). By 1995, RUF is accountable for the death of almost 75,000 people and displacing half million of its citizens (Smillie, 2002). The government has been restricted since 1996 and that by 1999 it has been limited to the Freetown peninsula. The sustained violence that has been done to the people of Sierra Leone points to the crisis of modernization, of the breakdown of law and order (Smillie, 2002) that it has created “widespread Sierra Leonean disenchantment with the failing state, with corruption and with a lack of opportunity, similar problems elsewhere had not led to years of brutality by forces devoid of ideology, political support and ethnic identity” (In the Heart of the matter as cited in Smillie, 2002). What is the role of blood diamonds in the collapse and the widespread disenchantment of the people Sierra Leone? A report by a Canadian NGO, which was released on January 2000, has shown that in Sierra Leone, civil war has been consciously undertaken in order to get hold of the abundant diamond resource in the country. It states Traditional economics, political science and military history are of little assistance in explaining Sierra Leone’s conflict. The point of the war may not actually have been to win it, but to engage in profitable crime under the cover of warfare. Diamonds, in fact, have fueled Sierra Leone’s conflict, destabilizing the country for the better part of three decades...Over the years, the informal diamond mining sector, long dominated by what might be called ‘disorganized crime’, became increasingly influenced by organized crime and by the transcontinental smuggling not just of diamonds, but of guns and drugs, and by vast sums of money in search of a laundry. Violence became central to the advancement of those with vested interests. As the mutation of the war in Sierra Leone continued and spread through the 1990s, so did the number and type of predators, each seeking to gain from one side of the conflict or another (In the Heart of the Matter as cited in Smillie,2002) And in a country where the president , President Siaki Stevens, himself lacks the will to steer the country form the quagmire of poverty and violence, for he and cronies are into corruption themselves, nothing is done (Smillie, 2002). The people were left to fend for themselves. The reality of Sierra Leone is vividly described by Martin Rapaport when he said Hundreds of millions of dollars of Sierra Leone diamonds are being traded on the world markets without any benefit going to the government or people of Sierra Leone. The real problem facing Sierra Leone is not merely how to share diamond resources among warring factions, but how to stop the illegal diamond industry from stealing the country’s resources. But it goes beyond that. The bastards are not just stealing Sierra Leone’s diamonds, they are trading them for guns. Guns which are used to kill people to keep the war going... The real challenge facing Sierra Leone and the world diamond trade, is how to stop this horrific murderous cycle of illegal diamond activity (Guilt Trip in Smillie, 2002) What happened in Angola and in Sierra Leone is that diamond has become the hot mineral and not women’s best friend. Diamond simply has become the rebels’ friend. Because through the illegal trading of diamond, guns were smuggled, people were kept in fear and terror, as land mines were buried together with millions of human bodies killed in the armed conflict. However, looking at the utter collapse of the structures of government that is supposed to be serving the people attain a semblance of a good life and of the other factors that contributed in one way or another in the continuation and perpetuation of the armed conflict, the other side of the spectrum is sometimes missed. This other side of the spectrum is the side of the multinational companies and firms that have continuously closed its eyes on the reality of “blood diamonds” . There is one firm in particular that has monopoly over the diamond trade in Africa – De Beers. 1.2.3. De Beers Diamonds are women’s best friend. Diamonds are forever. This sentences have caught the fancy of the elite world creating the illusion that diamonds are to be perceived as the penultimate symbol of eternal love and bond between a man and a woman, a timeless treasure, an eternal love. Though, undeniably this is a very good marketing propaganda which De Beers has employed in its marketing strategy, it hides the reality of the lives of the people who are day in and day out struggling for survival because of the ‘hot mineral’ that is causing them their very lives – diamonds. De Beers was founded by Cecil Rhodes in the late nineteenth century in South Africa. This company, since its inception, was and is known for its monopolistic moves in the market of diamonds. Rhodes as early as 1888 had brought over small mines and had tied up with Kimberly mine, which was an enormously rich and huge player in the diamond market (Olsson, 2006). With this tie up, the De Beers Consolidated was established. Moreover, Rhodes had gained control of 90 percent of the world’s production of gold. Nevertheless, it did not stop there. By 1975, De Beers had a joint venture with Botswana and called their company Debswans. A 50 – 50 split between Botswana and De Beers was agreed upon (Olsson, 2004). This business venture has been so successful that De Beers had entered into a similar agreement with Namibia and Tanzania. While, Debswana now actually owns a significant “number of shares in the mother company” (Olsson, 2006: 1145). In the global market, De Beers control the quantity of supply of diamonds. And in this scenario, they also control the supply (Olsson, 2006). Again, it significant to be reminded that De Beers is the one that has created the illusion and image of diamond as forever and as such their elite clientele in Europe, USA and Japan are willing to pay the high price of the diamonds that De Beers sell. Today, De Beers still control 60 percent of the market of diamond (Orogun, 2004). Being the number one player of diamonds in the world, De Beers revenue for 2005 amounted to $6 billion dollars. In the reality of monopoly, what makes De Beers an important player in the illegal trade of diamonds, of blood and conflict diamonds is the fact that De Beers do not care whether they are getting their rough diamonds from UNITA, from RUF or from Liberia (Olsson, 2006: Orogun,2004; Smillie,2002). They have completely closed their eyes to the reality of conflict/blood diamonds (Smillie, 2002) that what becomes of sole importance for them is the huge profit that they will be getting from the sale. Furthermore, Olsson (2004) claims that without De Beers, a significant drop in the price of diamonds will happen. reiterating what been repeatedly mentioned already, the image of diamonds as forever is an illusion created by De Beers for marketing strategy. In this regard, the illegal trading of diamond, the presence of blood diamonds/conflict diamonds have contributed to the perpetuation of the civil conflict in Africa because the sales from the illegal trading have been used by parties involved in the conflict for purchases of guns, military weapons, armaments, assorted military gadgets like land mines, food and petroleum fuel. While the non-combatants left to protect themselves from bandits masking under the guise of freedom, justice and democracy. Moreoever, with the sales from the blood diamonds, parties in conflict have sustained their operations, renewed their supplies and continued rampaging the areas and lands which are known to have abundant diamond deposits. And in this process hundreds of thousands and even millions of people have been killed in this part of the world. However, the story does not end there. It is not only gold that has been illegally trade but timber and banana as well. 1.3. CONFLICT TIMBER The use of timber to buy guns and other military weapons to sustain armed conflict had been done by Charles Taylor in LiBeria. He used timber during the time that he was cut off from diamond source. It was seen as a part of Taylor’s greed because he would sell anything of value that he could lay his hands on. The utter misuse of forest resources came after the end of the civil war as Charles Taylor was trying to regroup his troops (Ross, 2004; 2006). The extent of Taylor’s horrified the population since the forest was basically denuded by corporations that are closed to Taylor’s family and were known to be weapons dealer (Smillei,2002). But the horror did not stop there, “In 1998, timber production was reported to be 157,000 m3. The following year it had doubled, and by 2000 it had grown by a factor of six, to 934,000 m3, worth an estimated $106 million. During the first half of 2001, there was a 30 per cent increase on the previous year.6 These represent official figures; informal estimates are as much as 200 per cent higher. And while tax revenue on the officially recorded exports should have been something like $25 million in 2000, only $6.7 million was recorded “ (Smillie, 2002: 9). Taylor’s disregard for everything except for the fulfillment of his greed is beyond one can imagine. 1.4. BANANA TRADE Normally, when discussion regarding illegal trading of agricultural commodities, the basic commodity that is illegally traded is coca and opium (Ross, 2004). In addition, means with which armed conflict gains from agricultural commodities is through taxes. However, the Somalia case of Banana Trade is worth looking as it presents government ineptitude, corruption can turn a lucrative trade into a source of armed conflict. In southern Somalia, the banana trade is a well-known agricultural export product on this part of the country. It is claimed that the banana trade has contributed greatly to the economy of Somalia prior to the civil war (Webersik, 2005). However, during the civil war that ensued, the banana trade has been used by the militia men so that their armed supplies can be refurbished and their military weapons fortified (Webersik, 2005). What make matters worse is the fact that government has encouraged the armed conflict because the head of Somalia, some members of the upper echelons are earning form the taxes imposed on the trade (Webersik, 2005). Although, it can be seen a s borderline case between corruption, armed conflict and natural resource (banana) as the cause of conflict, still what is perceptible in the banana trade of Somalia is the glaring reality that the natural resources in Africa have been exploited for the benefit of some to the detriment of society, of humanity. In this regard, illegal trading of diamonds, of timber, of agricultural products like banana sustains the civil conflict primarily because the sales from these illegal trades are to fund, sustain, maintain, renew supplie sand purchases of military weapons, guns, fuels, food, medicine, assorted military gadgets like land mines. The sales are not intended to serve the people. It is instead, intended to serve the terroristic ideologies of people who are masking themselves as fighters of freedom and democracy. 1.5. APPARENT CAUSE OF CIVIL CONFLICT Nonetheless, one question still remains, and that is why? Why sacrifice millions of lives for an armed conflict rooted on diamonds and oil? Scholars claim that it is either simple greed or grievance of people who have lost sight of their humanity as they been disenchanted by governmental structures who have done nothing in the face of war economy and they have relegated in the periphery of the structures of the society because of perceptible differences (Collier & Hoeffler,2004; de Soysa, 2002; Fearon, 2004). Greed is fulfilling your interests or your group’s interests regardless whether people get hurt in the process of acquiring it (Collier & Hoeffler,2004; de Soysa, 2002). While grievance pertains to the anger of people who have been ostracised because of existing differences (Fearon, 2004). These two act as the fundamental impetus that prolongs armed conflict, civil wars in Africa. 1.6. CONCLUSION Armed conflicts, civil conflicts in Africa are multivariate. Illegal trading of diamonds, timber, banana and oil acts as the grease that fuels, sustain, maintain and refurbished operations of parties in conflict. 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