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Democratic Republic Of Congo Essay

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Recommended: African ethnic diversity

7. Data on Minerals
As noted in the country profile section of this paper, the Democratic Republic of Congo has a multitude of economically viable minerals within the country. It is important to understand the international relevance of the minerals located in the country. This state, as has been explained previously holds 70 % of the world’s supply of coltan, which is used to produce cellular phones. The DRC also has ‘30% of the planet's diamond reserves and vast deposits of cobalt, copper and bauxite’ (BBC NEWS , 2013). However, why would these resources leave the country desolate?
In this section, I will analyse the minerals available and the reasons that can be derived for the immense poverty and the way in which these minerals attract …show more content…

The minerals located in the Democratic Republic of Congo are known as conflict minerals, which one can deduce by the name as minerals acquired as a result of illicit conflict. However, that would not explain the tens of thousands Congolese who have died and been raped due to ‘conflict minerals’. The ways in which the resources are obtained play a substantial role as it relates to the plight of this large nation. For instance, other nations have vast resources, but other states have not undergone this level of plight due to …show more content…

For instance, Botswana is a prime example of an African country that has natural resources, diamonds, but has still maintained peace and has utilized its resources well within the country (Lewin, 2011, p. 82). It is imperative to explain that Botswana’s ethnic composition is much different than that of the DRC. The DRC is ethnically diverse, with over 200 ethnic groups residing in the country (Landis & Alber, 2012).
Botswana has one large majority ethnic group, was not colonized but instead was governed by a British protectorate, which did not seek to exploit the country’s wealth. Thus, Botswana had a better example of good governance, which aided the country post-independence (Lewin, 2011, pp. 82-85). These are major factors that separate the success of Botswana as a state with considerable minerals and the travesty of the DRC with minerals (Lewin, 2011, pp. 82-85). Thus, it can be argued that the problem with mineral wealth in the DRC, is not that of the mineral curse, but an issue with ethnic conflict and poor governance. The groups mentioned in the table below are the major armed groups vying for minerals in eastern

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