Mining Competition and Violent Conflict in Africa: Pitting Against Each Other

Rigterink, Anouk S; Ghani, Tarek; Lozano, Juan S; Shapiro, Jacob N

Abstract

Existing explanations for the well-established relationship between mining and conflict predominantly interpret violence near mines as conflict over territory or government. We provide evidence that competition between artisanal and industrial miners is also an important source of natural resources-related conflict, drawing on qualitative case studies at mining sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe, and a large-N analysis. For the latter, we use machine learning to estimate the feasibility of artisanal mining across the continent of Africa based on geological conditions. The impact of price shocks on violent conflict is over three times larger in locations with industrial mining where artisanal mining is feasible than in places with industrial mining unsuitable for artisanal mining. Our estimates suggest that 31 to 55% of the observed mining-conflict relationship is due to violent industrial-artisanal miner competition. This implies new avenues for conflict-mitigation as the clean energy transition increases demand for minerals. 1

Citation

Rigterink, A. S., Ghani, T., Lozano, J. S., & Shapiro, J. N. (2024). Mining Competition and Violent Conflict in Africa: Pitting Against Each Other. Journal of Politics, https://doi.org/10.1086/730743

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 6, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 4, 2024
• Publication Date: Apr 4, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 7, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 4, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Politics
• Print ISSN: 0022-3816
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-2508
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/730743
• Keywords: Natural resources; violent conflict; artisanal mining; extractives industry
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2228381
• Publisher URL: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jop/current