Lawrence Freedman explores the legacy of resource exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation rich in minerals yet plagued by instability and poverty. He draws connections from colonial times to present-day conflicts, fueled by both greed and foreign interference.
This is a country that should be enjoying its wealth. What is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is Africa’s second largest and fourth most populous country, with a surface area equivalent to Western Europe. It rests on approximately $24 trillion worth of natural resources. Before King Leopold concentrated on ivory and rubber. Now the range of its potential mineral wealth is extraordinary: cobalt (the largest producer in the world), copper (the largest producer in Africa), niobium, tantalum, coltan (80% of the world’s reserves), diamonds (30% of the world’s reserves), gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, and coal. Yet about a fifth of its population of about 100 million rely on aid to survive.
It is one of the most extreme examples of the so-called ‘resource curse’, whereby an abundance of raw materials leads to authoritarian regimes and civil wars.