Friday, March 27, 2009

The Exception to the Rule

“Botswana is what it is because of diamonds.”

-Festus Mogae,
Former President of Botswana


Botswana is a landlocked country in southern Africa. Botswana was a British territory known as Bechuanaland until it gained independence in 1966 and became known as Botswana. The first president was Sir Seretse Khama who served fourteen years as president until his death in 1980. Sir Khama’s son Ian Khama became the president of Botswana in 2008, when then president Festus Mogae graciously retiring after serving for ten years, which is a rare occurrence in African politics.
Upon its independence most of the people survived by raising cattle since agriculture is limited by the sand that covers most of Botswana. This feeble economy was often susceptible to crisis because of frequent draughts in the region. But, with the discoveries on several diamond mines the fate of Botswana changed dramatically. Diamonds are the only reason that Botswana is one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan Africa instead of one of the poorest.
Many African Nations have the "oil curse" or a similar situation with gems or precious metals; however Botswana is one of the few nations which has utilized their resources for the betterment of the country and the people. Botswana has become an exemplar of the success and stability that mineral-rich African nations are capable of and should strive for. Botswana is one of the only economically, politically, and socially stable countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Botswana is the largest diamond exporter in the world and most mining operations are run by the government. Moreover, with only 1.8 million people, Botswana’s per capita income is four times the regional average at $5,900 per capita and taxes are also among the lowest as well. In addition, the government in Botswana has been able to avoid corruption and properly allocate its funds. Botswana government has spent its diamond revenues on building schools, clinics, roads, and sanitation.


Diamonds and the Economy


Upon Botswana’s independence most of the people survived by raising cattle since agriculture is limited by the sand that covers most of Botswana because of the Kalahari Desert. This feeble economy was often susceptible to crisis because of frequent draughts in the region. But, with the discoveries on several diamond mines the fate of Botswana changed dramatically. Diamonds are the only reason that Botswana is one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan Africa instead of one of the poorest.
Botswana’s government has partnered with De Beers, which controls more than seventy percent of all diamond worldwide. This partnership is responsible for the production of almost all of Botswana’s diamonds. Unfortunately this causes the government to become the sole driving force behind Botswana’s economy, since the private sector. This realization is a concern for Botswana’s economical future, since diamond production in Botswana will plummet in the next fifteen to twenty years barring the discovery of new mines.[i]
Before Botswana picks its diamond mines dry it must find a way to diversify its economy much as Algeria has succeeded in doing. If Botswana cannot diversify its economy it will plunge into a depression, which could cause a civil war and result in the destruction of Botswana’s reputation of stability that Botswana’s government has worked so hard to establish. Currently the only thing that Botswana’s economy can fall back on is Botswana’s large coal reserves, which are similarly limited. Botswana’s government has announced that it plans to build power stations, which would be a sustainable source of income for Botswana.
There are also other economic issues that currently face Botswana. Aside from mining companies interested in diamonds Botswana has been unable to appeal to foreign companies and investors. Botswana’s government has tried to appeal to foreign investors with its low taxes and labor costs. Additionally, unemployment is roughly eighteen percent and the income gap between the people in the cities and those in rural regions of Botswana is large and growing.
[i] Economist southern star

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Nigeria's oil curse

“This is an example of how closely we are tied to the global economic chain of crude oil. We're often asked how a strike in Nigeria or an incident in Russia could have an effect on us here.”

-Michael Geeser, Triple A Spokesperson


Nigeria was part of the British Empire from 1906 until October 1, 1960 when it gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Like neighboring Niger, Nigeria takes its name from the Niger River which runs through the two countries. After gaining its independence in 1960 Nigeria fell victim to a series of military coups. The first coup occurred in January of 1966 when Prime Minister Balewa, the second Nigerian prime minister, was assassinated and Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi assumed power. Ironsi abolished the federal system that was in place at the time and established a military government. But six months after his own accession to power he was killed in a countercoup. Ironsi was succeeded by Major General Yakubu Gowon who restored the federal system in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has been notoriously known as one of the most corrupt in the world since it gained its independence more than forty years ago. Nigeria is also the leading African oil exporter and supplies the United States with twenty percent of its crude oil imports. There has been a large amount of outcry from the Nigerian people in response to the government poor allocation of funds produced by oil revenues.


Oil


Nigeria is one of the four African nations with membership in OPEC the others being Angola, Algeria, and Libya. Nigeria’s economy is almost completely dependent on its petroleum and liquefied natural gas as they accounted for 93.3% of all Nigerian exports in 2006.[i] Most of these exports were sent to the United States as more than 58% of all Nigerian exports are imported by the US. Oil also accounts for more than eighty percent of the government’s revenue and more than forty percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) in Nigeria.[ii]
Shell is the most prominent oil company operating in Nigeria as it controls over half of all Nigerian oil and gas reserves. The Niger Delta region currently accounts for more than ten percent of Shell’s global production. Other well known oil companies such as Chevron and ExxonMobil are currently operating in the Niger Delta region and many offshore Nigerian oilfields.
There has been a large outcry from the poor of Nigeria, because despite Nigeria’s great wealth of oil the people are not reaping any of the benefits. All of the profits are going to international oil corporations and the corrupt government. Furthermore all of the jobs created by the oil industry are given to the foreign workers of the international oil corporation that mine the oil fields.
Many rebel groups have been sabotaging the oil corporations. In a single year Nigerian rebels took more than a hundred foreign oil workers hostage and held them for ransom. Nigerian rebel groups have also caused many oil spills by sabotaging the oil pipelines which are poorly maintained as well. One area that has suffered the most from these rebel actions is Port Harcourt, which is considered to be the Nigerian oil capital, and the rest of the Niger River Delta along the west coast of Nigeria. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigeria’s current president, has promised to make this area a priority in an attempt to stop rebel sabotage of the oil industry. Many oil contractors are charging ten times more to work in the Niger Delta due to the recent kidnappings of foreign workers by Nigerian rebels.
Due to the rebel sabotage of oil operations in the Niger Delta, Nigerian revenues are forty percent lower than initially projected and the oil industry significantly underperformed. Aside from reduced production caused by sabotage, a change to offshore oilfields has reduced the government’s short term revenue. The traditional oilfields were managed by joint venture agreements where companies would have to pay the government as it accumulates revenue. The offshore oilfields are governed by more recent production-sharing which allow companies to wait longer before paying large fees to the government.
Aside from the political ramifications the oil industry has on Nigeria, Nigerian gas flares are an ecological hazard. Gas flaring is when oil companies burn gas to separate it from the crude oil. Nigeria outlawed the practice of gas flaring in 1979, but most companies continued and paid small fines or were granted exceptions by the government. These gas flares produce greenhouse gases and contribute to acid rain. In Nigeria, these gas flares burn 20 billion cubic meters and also wastes $500 million worth of gas annually. Russia is only country that wastes more gas through gas flaring and Nigeria now accounts for more than thirteen percent of all gas flaring worldwide. Gas flaring is also another cause of outrage and sabotage as one irate Nigerian put it, “Our environment is being destroyed. So there is an acceptance that if [militants] blow up a pipeline, at least they are taking revenue out of the government's pocket.”[iii]
[i] Economist.com fact sheet on Nigeria
[ii] Pg 114 of A Game as Old as Empire
[iii] Economist “gas flaring”

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Congo's Resources Curse

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is arguably one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has vast deposits of oil, coltan (columbite-tantalite), cobalt, copper, gold, silver, uranium, diamonds, zinc, manganese, tin, and coal. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a major trade partner of the United States in the past and continues to be as in 2006 58.4% of Congolese exports went to the United States.[i] In fact, when under the colonial rule of Belgium, the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) provided the United States with the uranium used in the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Columbite-tantalite is an ore, more commonly known as coltan, which is a notable Congolese export that is rapidly gaining value in the global marketplace. Coltan is an essential component of cell phones, laptops, Sony PlayStations, and weapons systems. The price of coltan skyrocketed from $18 per pound in 1998 to $380 in 2000.[ii] This spike in the price has had a profound effect on the Congolese economy since 80% of the known coltan mines are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Coltan was one of the many natural resources looted by Rwandan troops when they were supposedly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to pursue Hutu militants responsible for the Rwandan genocide who fled from Rwanda into the eastern Congolese provinces. There are also Tutsi insurgents in the eastern provinces, who are seeking revenge against Hutu rebels. Most organized Tutsi insurgents are led by General Laurent Nkunda. In December 2008, Congolese President Joseph Kabila deployed 25,000 troops into suppress Nkunda’s insurgency in the east.
There is evidence that shows how in 1998 Rwandan troops looted 1,500 tons of coltan, which the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been stockpiling for seven years, and shipped it to the Rwandan capital of Kigali. At the time that amount of coltan would have been worth only $54 million; however two years later that quantity would be worth $1.14 billion, because the value skyrocketed due to a rapidly growing demand for coltan in cell phones, laptops, and Sony PlayStations. Due to the Congolese Civil War, Congolese exports of coltan decreased in 2000 and caused a shortage of the Sony PlayStation 2 during the holiday season.
Rwandan troops looted many Congolese natural resources including coltan, gold, diamonds, timber, and coffee in the late 1990’s. There are several Rwandan export statistics which blatantly demonstrate looting of Congolese mines by Rwandan troops. Rwanda did not produce any coltan in 1999, but Rwanda exported 69.5 tons of coltan that year. Since only a pick and shovel are needed to mine coltan Rwandan troops would often force prisoners or impoverished Congolese village people to mine the coltan. Although Rwanda has no diamond mines, Rwandan diamond exports increased from 166 carats in 1998 to 30,500 carats in 2000. That same year Rwanda produced a mere 0.0044 tons of gold, yet Rwandan gold exports totaled 10.83 tons. All of these increases were due to Rwandan forces looting Congolese mines.
Copper serves as an exemplar of the devastating economical effects of the Congolese Civil War and the Congo wars. Copper was once an essential Congolese export, but copper production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has declined exponentially due to the Congo wars and the Congolese Civil War. In the 1980’s Gecamine, a government owned mining company, produced up to 470,000 tons of copper; however, in 2005, Gecamine only produced 14,000 tons.[iii]
Furthermore, the Congolese government is reviewing the legality sixty-five mining contracts which were granted before the most recent Congolese election. It is feared that many warring factions and corrupt government officials granted these contracts for their own personal gain. The deputy mines minister, Victor Kasongo, explained to the press, “The aim is to bring the Congo to the stage where things are clear, legal and beneficial for all the parties.” In addition to these unlawful contracts the Congolese government has struggled to collect royalties. In 2006, Congolese mining royalties were estimated at $160 million, but the Congolese government only collected a mere $32 million in mining royalties.[iv]
China offered to invest $8.5 billion dollars to build roads, railroads, schools and hospitals; however unlike most relief funds China’s investment would also be used to resurrect the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s once lucrative mining industries. China also built a railroad that is roughly 2,000 miles long from Congolese mines in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Congolese silver mines near the Atlantic coast. It would be prudent for the United States to take similar action in the mineral rich regions of Africa so as to improve African relations and ensure natural resource imports. India and Brazil are both discussing similar investments with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

[i] Pg 114 of a game as old as empire
[ii] A Game as Old as Empire
[iii] Mining firms face Congo crackdown; Ben Laurance Sunday Times of London 10-21-2007
[iv] Mining firms face Congo crackdown; Ben Laurance Sunday Times of London 10-21-2007

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Problems with Lake Albert

Lake Albert, which is also known as Albert Nyanza, sits on the loosely defined and contested border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda and it is also the northernmost of the African Great Lakes. The lake is the seventh largest lake in Africa and is fed by the Victoria Nile which flows from Lake Victoria to Lake Kyoga and then to Lake Albert. The lake was named for Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort and it became known to the western world in 1864 when it was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker. When Mobutu Sese Seko reigned as the dictator of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) he named the lake after himself and officially changed the name of Lake Albert to Lake Mobutu Sese Seko. After Mobuto Sese Seko fell from power Lake Albert was restored as the name of the lake.
One of most important and relevant issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo aside from the civil war is that oil deposits were recently discovered the Albertine Basin, beneath the lake bed in the sediment, which due to loosely defined borders in Lake Albert has spurred an armed conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda which prompted UN peacekeepers to intervene. The conflict over the oil in Lake Albert has resulted in fatalities for both armies, but unfortunately innocent civilians have been caught in the crossfire including a British geologist who was working for the Heritage Oil Company which was hired by the Ugandan Government. Additional oil was discovered below the surface of the east coast of Lake Albert, but this oil is not disputed as it clearly belongs to Uganda.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the many countries that has fallen victim to the African curse of abundant natural resources. This is a curse because the Congolese economy is dependent upon the commodity markets and it fluctuates with the price of commodities such as diamonds, cobalt, and oil. The oil in Lake Albert is estimated to have enough oil to produce slightly less than 100,000 barrels of oil per day for only ten years which would not ensure financial stability for the Congolese economy. The revenue produced by the oil from Lake Albert would provide an opportunity for the diversification of the Congolese economy into industrial and technological markets. The diversification of the Congolese economy would help to stabilize the economy and provide a safety net if the value of a particular Congolese commodity plummets.
Rukwanzi Island, a small island in the southern region of the lake, has become one of the center points in the struggle between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Rukwanzi Island was home to about a thousand fishermen most of who have fled since the Congolese military occupied the island. The island was part of Uganda, but the government abandoned the island because they feared that it was sinking into the lake. Recently the Democratic Republic of the Congo claimed the island and established a military encampment on the island. Both the Congolese and Ugandan government’s want ownership of the island because it could serve as a base for oil mining in the lake.
There are also several ecological issues associated with Lake Albert including eutrophication, hypoxia, a decreasing fish population, and reduced biodiversity in the lake. Eutrophication is caused by excess nutrients in the lake in particular high nitrate and phosphate levels, which would be exacerbated by industrializing the lake in order to mine for oil. Hypoxia is an oxygen deficiency which both exacerbates and is exacerbated by eutrophication. Algal blooms from eutrophication serve as a barrier that blocks dissolved oxygen from reaching fish and plant life in the deeper portion of the lake. When the fish and plant life decays it produces nitrogen which is converted to nitrates and further contributes to the eutrophication of the lake. Hypoxia and eutrophication have adversely effected the fish population and biodiversity of the lake. Over fishing particularly by Ugandan fisheries has also greatly contributed to decreased fish population in Lake Albert. The Ugandan fisheries have also introduced nonnative species which have damaged the equilibrium of the natural ecosystem in Lake Albert and appreciably contributed to the recent decrease in the biodiversity of Lake Albert. Ironically the Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) and the Nile Talapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were taken from Lake Albert and transferred to Lake Kyoga and Lake Victoria where they have similarly disrupted the natural ecosystem and caused a decrease in biodiversity in both of the lakes.[i]

Drinking Water


As in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa the safety of drinking water is a major problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Diarrheal diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery are the main concern. There are also some diarrheal diseases such as trachoma which can often cause blindness. During his congressional testimony in 2000, Peter Lochery, a senior advisor for the relief agency CARE, stated “Water-related diseases including diarrhea are the single largest cause of human sickness and death.”[i] It has been estimated that three million children die of diarrheal diseases each year. The Democratic Republic of the Congo suffers from many of these water safety issues and there was recently a widespread outbreak of cholera in one of the northern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most drinking water in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is unsafe and most be boiled to eliminate fecal coliform bacteria.
The water from Lake Albert is becoming to high nitrate levels due to the eutrophication of the lake. Consumption of water with high nitrate concentrations by infants under six months old can cause methemogolbinemia, more commonly known as blue baby disease, which can cause death. Methemoglobinemia is the result of nitrates converting the hemoglobin in red blood cells, which carries oxygen through the body, into methemogolbin, which can not carry oxygen and if untreated will result in death. Methemoglobinemia is highly noticeable because it cause skin to become bluish-gray if diagnosed it is easily treated. Unfortunately, many Congolese citizens are unaware of these symptoms and many do not have sufficient access to healthcare. Additionally, long term consumption of water with high nitrate concentrations have recently been linked to certain cancers by several medical studies. Also, when pregnant women drink water with high nitrate concentrations, it has been shown that the baby is placed at an increased risk of deformity.
Deforestation of Congolese rainforests also contributes to water problems. Typically plants alongside rivers will absorb nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates from the river as it passes. As these plants die off more and more of these nutrients flow into still water bodies such as lakes or ponds where high levels of phosphates and nitrates causing eutrophication and then hypoxia which can devastate aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, deforestation also causes riverbanks to erode much more rapidly than they would naturally.

[i] Global Access to Safe Water: Mr. Peter Lochery; Congressional Testimony 10-12-2000

[i] http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17337796

Civil War in the Congo is Worse than in Sudan

“Congo is the deadliest crisis anywhere in the world over the past 60 years. Ignorance about its scale and impact is almost universal and international engagement remains completely out of proportion to humanitarian need.”

-Richard Brennan

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria and it is located in the heart of central Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also the fourth most populous country in Africa after Nigeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also home to the Congo River, which is the most powerful river in Africa and is the second largest river in the world by volume. The Congo River flows through the Congolese rainforests, which are home to many rare and endangered species, and then flows east into the Atlantic Ocean. These are all factors that make the Democratic Republic of the Congo essential to the Great Rift Valley and the great lakes region of Africa.
The Belgian Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960 and was known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1971 the name was changed to Zaire, but the original name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was restored. When Joseph Kabila was elected the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo he became the first democratically elected Congolese leader in over forty years. Prior to Kabila’s election had been ruled by dictators most recently Kabila himself. Joseph Kabila became dictator after his father, Laurent Desire Kabila, was assassinated in 2001. Despite many rumors that Kabila rigged the election, the emergence of a structured, democratic government offers hope to many Congolese citizens and to the international community.
Since the Congolese Civil War has result in the deaths of 3.9 million men, women, and children since the conflict erupted in 1998. Richard Brennan, the primary author of a study about the Congolese Civil War that was conducted by International Rescue Committee and published in the Lancet, cited the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as, “the deadliest crisis anywhere in the world over the past 60 years.” He also makes mention of the ignorance exhibited by the global community in regard to the scale and impact of the Congolese Civil War. The most prominent issue is domestic terrorists and rebels who are terrorizing the northeast and east regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most problematic countries in Africa. The problems that face the Democratic Republic of the Congo are numerous and varied. One of the most prevalent issues are disputes between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda over oil rights in Lake Albert and ownership of Rukwanzi Island, which is a small island in the southern region of Lake Albert. Drinking water is another important issue for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to deal with.
The armed conflict between Congolese and Ugandan troops over Lake Albert’s oil ended a four-year peace between the two countries, which followed the Congo Wars between Ugandan and Congolese forces which lasted from 1997 to 2003. In 1997, Uganda backed Rwandan forces that helped Congolese rebels to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko, the military dictator of Zaire (now Congo), but Uganda later opposed his successor Laurent Desire Kabila as well. After rising into power changed the name of the country from Zaire back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2001, Kabila was assassinated and he was succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila who is the current president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After his death the Ugandan military accused Laurent Kabila of arming rebels and began occupying cities in the east and north-east of Zaire (now Congo). In 2003, Ugandan and Rwandan forces began to pullout and were replaced by 17,500 UN Peacekeepers. After the conflict the International Court of Justice decided that Uganda must compensate the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to atrocities committed against Congolese civilians, which included rape, torture, and murder; another reason for the decision was the looting of Congolese resources by Ugandan forces.


Civil War


The civil war that now ravages the Democratic Republic of the Congo began in 1998 and is the most troublesome issue that is widely overlooked internationally and specifically the western world. The American People were outraged by the United States inaction during the genocide in Rwanda, particularly after the release of the film Hotel Rwanda. The civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the death of 3.9 million people both from fighting and diseases caused by the conflict (according to a study conducted by the International Rescue Committee and published in the Lancet, a British medical journal). The 3.9 million deaths that have occurred during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are nearly four times more than resulted from the genocide in Rwanda it is also makes the Congolese Civil War the most deadly conflict since World War II and the Holocaust. The Congolese Civil War has resulted in the deaths of more people than the conflict in Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan, and the Genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan combined. This conflict is also one of the most disturbing as well with rebel militias raping women and spreading HIV/AIDS as a weapon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being stripped of its natural resources much as it was when it was ruled by Belgium, and most disturbingly, one rebel faction has been accused cannibalism stemming from reports that some rebels had murdered innocent Pygmies, who have no part in the conflict, and then ate them. The United States government now shows similar inaction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, yet the uproar from the American public is seemingly nonexistent in comparison to the uproar that resulted from the United States’ inaction during the genocide in Rwanda. One factor which may contribute to the American public’s unawareness of this conflict is that the US is currently at war and most of the outcry for African struggles is about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Between early 2007 and April 2008 alone 550,000 people have fled from their villages in the eastern Congolese provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.[i] Many who flee from their villages become malnourished and become more susceptible to many diseases which can kill them.
Although the Congolese Civil War officially ended the conflict continues and it is now concentrated primarily in the mountainous eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are an estimated 20,000 rebels in the east belonging to various rebel factions. These groups are responsible devastating entire villages as well as raping and murdering innocent civilians. The 17,000 UN peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest UN peacekeeping force in the UN’s history and is known by the acronym MONUC. Of the 17,000 UN peacekeepers nearly ninety percent are stationed in the near-anarchical eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The east has been a lawless region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Since 1960, the east has lacked a structured government and has been primarily ruled by warlords and militia leaders. Among the rebel factions in the east are Hutu rebels, the ethnic extremists who were responsible for the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Most Hutu rebels are members of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), who fled from Rwanda after the genocide ended in July 1994. President Kabila and the Congolese government have struggled to suppress these rebel militias in the eastern provinces, despite a strong military presence as well as the thousands of UN peacekeepers stationed in the east.
Another notable rebel faction was led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, a Congolese senator who lost to Joseph Kabila in the 2006 presidential election. Bemba went into exile in Portugal after his rebel backers were defeated by Congolese troops in 2007. In May 2008, Senator Bemba was arrested in Belgium and is now being charged for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Congolese rebel factions are funded in various ways mostly through the smuggling of natural resources, which robs the government of profit. When Rwandan troops were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo they looted many Congolese resources and then funded and backed Congolese rebel militias. But, even after Rwandan troops withdrew smuggling continued. In 2004, seventeen tons of ivory, which came from five-hundred to a thousand illegally poached elephants, were smuggled out of the Congolese province of Ituri alone.[ii] There have also been surprising reports that some UN peacekeepers are supplying Hutu rebels, whom they are supposed to be fighting, with ammunition in exchange for illegally poached ivory.[iii] In another report, Indian and Pakistani UN peacekeepers were accused by the BBC of exchanging their weapons with rebels from the FNI militia, a rebel militia operating in Ituri, in exchange for gold. Another concern in the Congolese forests of Ituri is the okapis. Okapis are a rare species of forest giraffes that are only found in the Ituri province, but during the war they were poached and their pelts were smuggled into neighboring Uganda where they were sold illegally to fund rebel militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite the ecological problems of war, peace could cause even more. If there was peace in the eastern provinces, international timber companies might be attracted to Congolese rainforests including those in Ituri. Industrial logging in the forests would devastate the now fragile ecosystems in the Congolese rainforests. The obvious threat is deforestation which would reduce the habitat of many endangered species including the okapis and several species of elephants. Logging is still occurring on a far smaller scale as rebels are smuggling timber in ways similar to coltan and other Congolese natural resources.
In the Ituri jungle a semi-nomadic people, the Pygmies, who still live and hunt in ways long forgotten in the western world, have been caught in the crossfire of this deadly conflict in the Ituri province. Pygmies are believed to have been the first people to settle in the area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pygmies will go to villages and work in the fields in exchange for food and metal tools, but many farmers take advantage of the Pygmies. There have been disturbing accounts of members of a Congolese rebel faction, MLC (Movement for the Liberation of Congo), murdering and eating Pygmies in Ituri.
Unfortunately, Congolese civilians have frequently been victims of the Congolese Civil War often times women and children. Both Congolese rebels and the Congolese army have used rape as a barbaric weapon of war against innocent civilians during the civil war. Soldiers and rebels will often rape women in public places and force the victim’s family watch. Even worse is that some rebels will force men at gunpoint to rape their own mothers, sisters, and even daughters. Furthermore the UN Fund for Women and various other human rights organizations have estimated that hundreds of thousands of Congolese women and girls have been raped; however an exact figure is unattainable since the vast majority of rapes are not reported because social stigma brought on the victims. Roughly 4,500 cases of sexual violence were reported in the Congolese province of South Kivu in only the first six month of 2007. In addition, to that staggering figure the UN estimates that for everyone instance that is reports ten or twenty will go unreported because of the harsh social stigma brought upon the victims. Even more disturbing are some of the accounts of the vicious attacks. Some victims are as young as eighteen months and are raped in front of their parents and other victims are as old as seventy-five years old. In other accounts the assailants rubbed salt in the victims eyes until she was blind so as to ensure that she could not identify her attackers. Additionally, more than a quarter of Congolese rape victims contract HIV/AIDS. These women are then viewed as “contaminated” and they are shunned by their village and abandoned by their husbands. Also, many refugees feel when they reach a UN refugee camp that they are safe, but unfortunately women are raped in these camps everyday because of this false sense of security.
The effects of rape are not only felt emotionally and physically by the victim, but they are also felt by the village and local economy. Women would usually tend to the fields and harvest the crops, but now more and more women are staying inside. They fear that they could be abducted from their fields and raped. This has caused a rapid decline in agricultural production which has crippled many localized economies and also has caused many to go hungry. These violent rapes have also destroyed the trust many Congolese women once had since many of these assaults were committed by neighbors, taxi drivers, and even teachers.


[i] Economist atrocities beyond words
[ii] National Geographic a hole in the forest sep. 2005
[iii] economist


Images from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#Civil_Wars

My Thoughts on Africa

“The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it.”

-George Kimble,
Geographer


Africa’s importance in the global marketplace and the international community is continually growing. It is by far the most mineral-rich region of the world and it also has abundant oil deposits. Currently four African nations are members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), they are Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, and Libya. Gabon was also formerly a member of OPEC as well, but left in 1998.
The media in the United States seems to constantly overlook issues pertaining to suffering in Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa which is far less affluent than countries in northern Africa which border the Mediterranean Sea and have established more durable economies. This is not only a flaw of the media, but the American people have often been ignorant to affairs of African nations. Unfortunately, the United States government is often as unaware and indecisive about matters of foreign policy concerning African nations.
Ignorance and a lack of adequate foreign policy pertaining to Africa will soon hurt American consumers and will serve as a detriment the status of the United States’ economy in the global marketplace. The primary cause for the majority of the economic hardships can be attributed to rising fuel costs. Many nations in the Middle East that export oil to the United States have decreased exportation of oil due to conflicts, which have arisen. In addition, many OPEC nations have begun to limit oil production and create strategic reserves so as to guarantee a reliable oil source in the future. Africa is the future of oil as most of its oil has not been tapped yet such as the recently discovered oil under Lake Albert on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Moreover, there are also financial advantages associated with importing oil from African sources as opposed to Middle Eastern sources. The most important advantage is the quality of the crude oil; most of the oil from Africa can be refined more easily than oil from the Middle East which would save millions in production costs. Additionally, also shipping costs are less when the oil is shipped from Africa as opposed to from the Middle East, especially when the oil is shipped from countries on the east coast of Africa such as Nigeria and Angola.
The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 unmistakably illustrates the United States government’s ignorance and inaction, which is well depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda. The genocide began on April 6, 1994 and by the time it ended in July 1994 nearly one million Rwandans had been killed.[i] On April 21, 1994 the United Nations Security Council, where the US has veto power, voted unanimously to withdraw UN peacekeepers that were in Rwanda before the genocide began. The following month on May 3, 1994 US President, Bill Clinton, signs a Presidential Decision Directive which reduced US military involvement in foreign peacekeeping operations. On May 17, 1994, more than a month after the conflict in Rwanda began; the United Nations announces that, “acts of genocide may have been committed.” On the same day the UN Security Council voted to send 5,500 UN peacekeepers back into Rwanda.
A more modern example of United States not wanting to intervene in African affairs is the genocide that is still occurring in the western region of Sudan, known as Darfur. Unlike most conflicts in Africa, the American public seems reasonably aware of and outraged by the conflict in Darfur.
Many African nations have the potential to emerge as major exporters of crude oil in the global market. Currently the United States receives 12% of its crude oil imports from western Africa. Furthermore, the US National Intelligence Council predicts that by 2015 the US will receive more than a quarter of its crude oil imports from western Africa. Africa has more natural resources than any other region in the world. In addition to diamonds and oil also has an abundance of many other natural resources including: 99% of the world’s chrome, 85% of the world’s platinum, 68% of the world’s cobalt, and more than half of the world’s gold.[ii] Unfortunately, the profits from Africa’s natural resources often line the pockets of corrupt government officials and corporate executives instead of the millions of poor Africans who desperately need it. In order to fully utilize African Nations as trading partners in the future the United States will have to make genuine attempts to ameliorate the situation in many African Nations. United States must become and remain a reliable and ubiquitous source of aid for emerging African nations.
China has taken the opportunity to buy African oil fields and offer aid in exchange for natural resources; meanwhile the US has sat on the sidelines as potentially lucrative African deals go to China.
One problem that faces many African nations is that they have only become sovereign nations within the past fifty years. In the 1960’s and 1970’s many European colonies and territories in Africa became independent countries. Since gaining impendence from European countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Portugal many African nations have frequently been subjected to civil wars, military coups, and political instability.
Another issue which needs to be addressed is the stark difference in the quality of life for people living in North Africa as opposed to people living in sub-Saharan Africa. People in North Africa are on average more literate, wealthier, and healthier than their sub-Saharan counterparts. Furthermore economies and governments in North Africa are far more stable than those in sub-Saharan Africa.

[i] http://www.unitedartists.com/hotelrwanda/main.html
[ii] DEALING WITH AFRICA'S RESOURCE CURSE; AllAfrica 09-02-2007