Over the past decade various practical guidelines, schemes and tools have been developed with the aim of improving the governance of natural resources in conflict-affected and fragile states. Yet many of these initiatives are state-centric and targeting formal corporations, which tends to exhibit a certain disconnect from the governance reality observed in such challenging environments. The latter are often characterized by overlapping, competing and interlinking forms of power and authority where the state shares the control, legitimacy and capacity to function and provide essential services with a variety of informal networks, strongmen or traditional institutions.

Given the scant evidence on how such initiatives play out in hybrid political contexts, this CCDP Working Paper contributes much-needed insights on de facto natural resource governance and the implementation of such initiatives. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork conducted by Lara Atanasijevic in 2013 and 2015 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this publication analyses the governance of “3T minerals” (tin, tantalum and tungsten ore) in the provinces of North Kivu and Katanga.

The paper suggests that more encompassing approaches might entail increased engagement with the actors (such as traditional authorities) that make up the hybrid political order observed, as well as an amplified sensitivity to the de facto roles different stakeholders may inherit or obtain in governing natural resources. Furthermore, investigating the roles and responsibilities of mining companies in such orders might not be sufficient, and while the socio-economic and security situation in eastern DRC is also influenced by broader national and international developments such as national elections and mineral price fluctuations on global markets, more consultation and engagement with local populations would appear to be a crucial ingredient to effective governance.

This CCDP Working Paper constitutes a final outcome of the research project “Natural Resource Governance in Hybrid Political Orders,” under the substantive lead of Professor Gilles Carbonnier.

The report can be accessed here.