Global Witness - Breaking the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption
Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire was once the economic powerhouse of West Africa: a stable and affluent country which had managed to avoid the descent into civil war that had plagued so many of its neighbours. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was known as the ‘African miracle'. And yet in September 2002, an army mutiny escalated into a full-scale rebellion, resulting in the country being split into a rebel-held north and a government-held south. Several failed peace agreements later, the country remains divided in a military stalemate. The standoff has led to a culture of impunity characterised by human rights violations such as extortion, harassment and intimidation of civilians by government forces and harassment, arbitrary arrests, extortion of money and robbery by the rebels. There are also reports of extra-judicial executions and the use of child soldiers by both sides.
Natural resources are key to the financing of the conflict. In September 2005, Global Witness investigations discovered that diamonds mined in rebel-held Forces Nouvelles areas were being smuggled into Mali and Guinea and then onto the international market. A UN Panel of Experts report found that the rebels were using cocoa and cotton, as well as diamonds, to fund their war effort and for personal gain. In December 2005, three years after the conflict started, the Security Council extended the arms embargo against Côte d'Ivoire to include a ban on rough diamond exports from the country.
Natural resources are also important in funding the government and government-associated militias. Some 40% of the world's cocoa comes from Côte d'Ivoire. Cocoa makes up 35% of the country's export earnings. The majority of cocoa plantations are in the government-controlled south of the country. The UN Panel of Experts estimated that 20% of government military spending had come directly from the cocoa industry in the form of contributions, loans and grants. This is in addition to the routine contributions made by the industry via taxes to the treasury. For example, in August 2003, the chairman of one of the cocoa industry's regulating bodies admitted giving large sums of the institution's money to President Gbagbo to enable him to ‘defend Ivorian people'.
The situation in Côte d'Ivoire suggests worrying signs of a war economy that is thriving on a combination of access to land and control over natural resources, coupled with social and ethnic violence. Given the recent history of other West African countries and the presence of Liberian militias in parts of Côte d'Ivoire, failure to address this control over natural resources could constitute a danger not only for the country but also for the entire region.
Latest Publications
March 2010
Environmental groups call on French shipping company Delmas to cancel shipment of precious wood from Madagascar
Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today called on French shipping company Delmas to cancel a shipment to China of hundreds of tons of rosewood from the port of Vohémar, in northeastern Madagascar. The campaign groups accuse the company of facilitating the destruction of Madagascar’s last remaining forests caused by vast illegal logging of rosewood.
Open letter to Delmas shipping company raises concerns over rosewood shipments from Madagascar
An open letter from Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to Delmas shipping company expressing grave concerns at its involvement in the transport of timber from Madagascar which has been declared illicit by the Malagasy authorities. The groups accuse Delmas of facilitaitng the destruction Madagascar's remaining rosewood forests through illegal logging.
Link between Angolan president's son-in-law and state oil company raises questions about transparency
The son-in-law of the Angolan president has been nominated to the board of a holding company that owns a third of the Portuguese oil firm Galp Energia, which has investments in Angola. The nomination was made by the State oil company, Sonangol, which is responsible for managing Angola's oil on behalf of its citizens. This arrangement raises concerns about conflicts of interest to which Sonangol has not responded.
DR Congo: ex-rebels take over mineral trade extortion racket
Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Global Witness reported today following four weeks of research in the region.
Global Witness concerned at choice of new Ukraine energy minister
Global Witness is concerned that Yuri Boyko, a controversial figure from the murky past of Ukraine’s gas industry, has been put back in effective charge of a key gas supply route from Russia to the European Union.
Landmark oil and mining transparency initiative faces credibility test as key deadline passes
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a pioneering initiative to bring more openness to the world's oil and mining industries, faces a major credibility test after 20 out of 22 countries failed to meet a key deadline today.
Global Witness urges Cambodia’s donors to condemn sponsorship of military units by private businesses
Aid donors to Cambodia, including the US, EU, Japan, China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia’s military by private businesses. This call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.
February 2010
A near miss? Lessons learnt from the allocation of mining licences in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone
Between 2005 and 2007, two mining licences were issued in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone, even though the area was a proposed national park. This new report identifies weaknesses in Sierra Leone's natural resource governance and attempts to draw lessons for the future.
Parliamentary committee report on libel, privacy and press freedom not strong enough to defend public interest reporting
A report on press standards, privacy and libel makes broadly sensible recommendations but does not go far enough to allay fears that England's laws are a barrier to public-interest campaigning.
Campaigners criticise proposals to define palm oil plantations as forests
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance today criticised the EU and Indonesia for attempting to reclassify palm oil plantations as forests, saying this would be a step backwards in efforts to halt climate change though preventing deforestation.
28 countries accused of facilitating money laundering … but key offenders missing
An international financial crime watchdog has named and shamed countries that are failing to stop dirty money entering the financial system, a move welcomed by Global Witness. However, conspicuously absent are major financial centres and secrecy jurisdictions, many of which also have serious weaknesses in their anti-money laundering regulations.
