Conflict diamonds and oil are a curse for African governments that produce them. As these resources are much sought after in Africa and the rest of the world, many African conflicts are initiated over control over them. Once wars begin, they are perpetuated by mostly illegal sales of these resources, which are then sold to arms dealers, who provide massive arms shipments to the areas of conflict. 20% of the world's diamonds are sold illegally and 15% of them are conflict diamonds. As a result of the harsh methods of the collection of such resources and the overall treatment of civilians living in affected areas, much human life is lost.

Such conflicts usually begin in violent outbursts of successful or abortive coup d'etats. The sadly repetitive formula for these coup d'etats is as follows: groups of soldiers break away from mainstream African government militaries and rally around a warlord, who states that the government must be overthrown for the benefit of the people. These rebel soldiers name their "movements" with such phrases as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). In the following conflict, most often than not started over control over resources, whichever side has influence over the resources will have the upper hand, for they will be able to court the various lurking arms dealers, who are always on the lookout for such business opportunities. The population living near or around these resources will then be subjected to all sorts of atrocities or be subjected to work in the collection of said resources. When the conflict reaches this stage, it will have expanded to the point where it will be difficult for the legitimate government to control or stop. While the conflict rages on, massive shipments of resources and arms, worth billions of dollars, can be tracked going into and leaving the conflict area.

When the Second Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) War erupted, rebel groups quickly fractured while vying for resources and several major African countries send "aid". The African countries that sent "aid" used it as a pretext to secure their own stakes in the resources. DRC warlords traded these materials, such as "conflict" diamonds for arms. This proved highly convenient as the DRC had no arms manufacturing plants but plenty of raw resources. Warlords dealing with "conflict" diamonds became rich and were able to gain influence over more areas of the country. They then used the weapons bought from infamous arms dealers, such as Victor Bout, using "conflict" diamonds, to jockey for influence over more areas of land, thus bringing the bloodshed to civilians living under government control. In fact, due to diamonds, oil, and other resources, 11 out of every 20 people in the world has access to a Kalashnikov rifle, which is the primary armament of militants in Africa.

Moreover, "conflict" diamonds in Sierra Leone led to the country's instability, as the Revolutionary United Front fought for people, which they considered a resource, whom they could use to mine "conflict" diamonds and thus maintain their influence. In Liberia, Charles Taylor overthrew Samuel Doe and maintained his influence using weapons bought from the arms dealer Victor Bout. The currency he used was diamonds. In Nigeria, oil has, or I should rather say, the misuse of oil has brought corruption to the government, and thus unhappiness to the people.

It is a widespread fact in Africa that revolutionary governments or factions used oil and diamonds to find support and influence, usually bringing bloodshed and long term devastation to the people and governments of Africa.

Read More About Turbulent Events In Africa's History:

The Role Of The Sudanese Government In The War In Darfur

A Study Of The Biafra War In Nigeria: Causes, Development, And Aftermath

Liberia After Two Civil Wars