What business practices are used to get a conflict-zone natural resource into the international market at the best possible price? The case of the DRC

This paper lays out key business routes that natural resources can take from conflict zones to ?legitimate? markets in the destination countries. The approach taken here is that the methods used to transfer natural resources from conflict-zones are structurally similar to international criminal networks with two significant additional features : in some cases nation-states are active partners for their own political self-interests and in other cases transnational corporations are active participants for their own commercial self-interests. For the commercial movement of natural resources from conflict-zones to persist, there must be significant benefits from the end-sale of the natural resources in the wealthier markets. The goal of this short paper is to categorise the common mechanisms used so that effective public policies in the wealthier importing countries can be formulated in the most effective manner. 

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Subjects

BUS Business / Industry
NTR Natural Resources
TRA Trade

Scope Areas

Democratic Republic of Congo