Here is a nice illustration of the resource curse from relatively recent history- taken from the UN
The pink line shows Uganda’s gold production
The blue line shows Uganda’s gold exports
Note the way in which gold exports, but not gold production, suddenly increases immediately following the entry of Ugandan troops into the Congo War in 1994.
Some observers might suggest this offers support for the view that Uganda’s military involvement in that war was merely a cynical attempt to extract a few tonnes of gold – 40 tonnes over the period shown.
Of course it wasn’t only Uganda – Rwanda, Burundi, Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe were all extracting DRCs resources during this period too!
Find Out More –