Calling on Peace: The International ICT Sector and the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The Great Lakes region in Central Africa is one of the most conflict-torn regions in the world. Mary Kaldor characterizes it as being part of a fast-growing group of states called ‘bad neighbourhoods’ (Kaldor 2007: 183–6) which are characterized by parasitic social constellations and war economies.’ Rebel groups, warlords, regular armies and governments use the illegal extraction of natural resources as a means to keep a steady flow of money that can then be used to prolong conflict. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country that has been exposed to devastating conflicts for more than a decade, the mixed crystal coltan attracted the interest of parties to the conflict. Coltan is necessary for the production of all kinds of processors within technological products such as consoles, mobile phones, notebooks, domestic appliances, and military, automotive and medical equipment. By 2008, with a new surge of violence, the extraction and sale of coltan and tantalum (the metal derived from coltan and used as a semi-conductor) was no longer regarded as the most important conflict-fuelling natural resource. Today, other resources such as cassiterite, tin and gold play a dominant role in North Kivu.² Disputes over coltan sources shaped the conflict process, especially during the second Congo war (1998–2003), also referred to as the first African World War, to the extent that the mineral was the synonym of the conflict and corporate involvement.