Sara Geenen

Win-win or unequal exchange? The case of the Sino-Congolese cooperation agreements

The recent involvement of China in sub-Saharan Africa is challenging and changing the world geostrategic scene. In the article, we analyse the agreements between the Congolese government and a group of Chinese state-owned enterprises. A number of public infrastructure works will be financed with Chinese loans. To guarantee reimbursement, a Congolese/Chinese joint venture will be created to extract and sell copper, cobalt and gold. These are the biggest trade/ investment agreements that China has so far signed in Africa. This article seeks to contribute to the discussion regarding the agreement’s impact on internal development in Congo. Does it create a ‘ win-win ’ situation for all, or is it an unequal exchange ? We outline the internal and international debates and analyse several noteworthy characteristics of the agreements. In conclusion, we present a balanced view on the likely impact on Congo’s short-term and long-term development.

Disputed access to the gold sites in Luhwindja, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

In a context of increased competition over natural resources, large-scale investors are showing renewed interest in eastern Congos mineral resources. At the local level this is resulting in fierce disputes over access to land and to mining sites. This article offers an empirical study of access in Luhwindja, where a multinational mining company has recently begun to exploit gold. We first sketch the context, examining the overlapping legal fields and analysing how various actors gain and control access to the gold mines. Next we study how the arrival of Banro Corporation in Luhwindja has altered power relations at the local level. Looking more specifically at the displacement of artisanal miners and the resettlement of local communities, we demonstrate how the company, local elites and the local population have engaged in a complex struggle for access.

Relations and regulations in local gold trade networks in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the local gold trade in Eastern DRC, a sector in which most activities are not officially registered and take place outside the regulatory framework of the state. Starting with the research on informal economies and networks, we find that in the absence of strong public and market institutions, personal relations are valued higher than pure market exchange. This is also demonstrated in the study of the local gold trade network. On the basis of fieldwork and in-depth interviews with traders and diggers, we describe how and why relationships are built in this context, what their nature is (credit and debt) and how they are maintained, reinforced and regulated. In order to fully understand the functioning of the network we also have to frame it in its specific local and historical context. The close connection between context and network dynamics is epitomized in a number of structural characteristics, which shape and are given shape by the network dynamics. This connection, and the specific relations and regulations in the network, need to be recognized if we want to make sense of formalization, a topical issue in Eastern DRC.

LAND RUSH

LAND RUSH is a board game that allows participants to critically assess the ways in which different social classes face both opportunities and constraints in securing land rights and in managing the acquired land sustainably in an extremely competitive environment. The game illustrates three characteristics of contemporary land dynamics in an altering world. First, the logics of smallholder farmers are largely oriented towards risk diversification, and often contrast with those of current agrarian policies of most international and national policy makers, oriented towards maximal production and commercialization. Second, the rules of the game in the land arena are not uniformly defined, but are characterized by a reality of legal pluralism. Third, access to or exclusion from land is the result of a negotiation process in which actors with unequal power relations interact and compete with each other. Better-off actors have a comparative advantage in negotiations over land rights. However, poorer actors still exert agency, although in constrained ways.

DEVELOPMENT MONOPOLY: A Simulation Game on Poverty and Inequality

DEVELOPMENT MONOPOLY is a simulation game that allows players to experience how power relations influence the agency of different socioeconomic groups, and how this can induce poverty and inequality. Players alter the original rules of the MONOPOLY board game so that they more accurately reflect social stratification and inequalities in the context of developing countries. After the game, the players reflect on how they could be made more inclusive and pro-poor. In an individual debriefing, they are invited to think about the connections between game dynamics and contemporary evolutions in developing countries. In a final collective debriefing phase, participants discuss the ways in which the simulation experience enhanced their understandings of poverty and inequality.

Different faces of access control in a Congolese gold mine

Abstract Mukungwe is a gold mine in eastern DRC, where mineral resources are commonly labelled ‘conflict minerals’. Although Mukungwe’s history has been characterised by conflict, we do not analyse the conflict here as a mere example of a mineral resource conflict. This article offers a more contextual understanding, starting from a detailed ethnographic and historical account and inspired by the literature on access control. In this sense, violence is understood as but one of the mechanisms of access control. Based on ethnographic and archival research, this article offers insights into the narratives and practices of the conflict’s key players.

Land rush: simulating negotiations over land rights

LAND RUSH is a board game that allows participants to critically assess the ways in which different social classes face both opportunities and constraints in securing land rights and in managing the acquired land sustainably in an extremely competitive environment. The game illustrates three characteristics of contemporary land dynamics in an altering world. First, the logics of smallholder farmers are largely oriented towards risk diversification, and often contrast with those of current agrarian policies of most international and national policy makers, oriented towards maximal production and commercialization. Second, the rules of the game in the land arena are not uniformly defined, but are characterized by a reality of legal pluralism. Third, access to or exclusion from land is the result of a negotiation process in which actors with unequal power relations interact and compete with each other. Better-off actors have a comparative advantage in negotiations over land rights. However, poorer actors still exert agency, although in constrained ways.

Simulating Poverty and Inequality Dynamics in Developing Countries

This article considers how the simulation game of DEVELOPMENT MONOPOLY provides insight into poverty and inequality dynamics in a development context. It first discusses how the game is rooted in theoretical and conceptual frameworks on poverty and inequality. Subsequently, it reflects on selected playing experiences, with special focus on the aspects of rule crafting, power relations, and game dynamics. Finally, the article assesses the simulation game’s learning effects, based on observations concerning the debriefing phase.

BUILDING TIES IN A STRATIFIED SOCIETY: A Social Networking Simulation Game

BUILDING TIES IN A STRATIFIED SOCIETY is a collective action game that allows participants to experience how different social classes face both opportunities and constraints in securing their livelihoods through the construction of social networks. Participants receive a knot with six strands (length depends on their social stratum) and connect themselves with others by tying their strands to each other. A score is calculated for each participant, dependent on the type of connections he or she is able to establish. Connections with better-off categories have a higher value than those with poorer categories. The resulting network and the scores of the participants are analyzed during the debriefing. The game allows participants to assess critically the ways in which different social classes (also those at the lower end of the societal scale) exercise “agency” in the construction of their networks, although this agency may be constrained in various ways.

Triangular arm wrestling : analysis and revision of the Sino-Congolese agreements

The era of globalisation and the staggering growth of upcoming economic powers are bringing new actors to Africa. The most important new actor at the moment is China, a country in need of huge quantities of raw materials to support its economic growth. Since African countries presently lack the physical and human capacity to exploit their own reserves, and acutely need to reconstruct ageing infrastructures and weak economies, a win-win scenario seems possible.