The Economist asks if an ambitious and risky mine developed by Alphamin Resources, a Canadian-funded companycan make a difference in eastern Congo.
"In much of Africa having natural resources has often proved to be a curse. Gems and minerals have funded rebel armies and kept conflicts burning. Governments that can raise big bucks from oil or mineral royalties, rather than by fostering broad-based growth and taxing people’s incomes, have had little incentive to govern well. The ruling class have devoted their energies to divvying up the easy money rather than actually governing.
In eastern Congo the state has all but collapsed, leaving vast tracts of territory lawless. The locals have discovered that even bad government is better than no government at all. It will take more than a tin mine to change that, but you have to start somewhere."
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21705860-can-ambiti...