Arms trafficking and conflict on the continent

Arms trafficking and the conflicts they support are having a devastating effect on sub-Saharan Africa, the US State Department said in a recent report on 'Arms and Conflict in Africa.' According to the report released this month, Africa has more armed disputes than any other continent, with 11 major conflicts taking place on the continent in 1998, producing more than eight million refugees. "The proliferation of light weapons financed by cash, diamonds, or other commodities did not cause Africa's wars, but it has prolonged them and made them more lethal," the report said. Africa an "attractive market" The State Department said there has been a fundamental change in weapon sales in sub-Saharan Africa, with the region increasingly seen as "an attractive market" by those countries and manufacturers who found themselves, at the end of the Cold War, with warehouses filled with superfluous arsenals. According to the report, that has led to "the consequent widespread availability of cheap weapons, which are easy to use and maintain." It noted that in some African countries an AK-47 sells for as little as US $6. It added that in Africa, arms trafficking involves mainly low-maintenance, durable light weapons such as rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortars and land mines. This growth in arms trafficking has coincided with the change in the nature of conflicts that has occurred on the sub continent. According to the report, "warfare has become more complicated as guerrilla groups have proliferated and divided into warring factions." It added that so called "warfare by proxy" has also helped to spread these conflicts and make them more regional in nature, such as the present conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Financing arms supplies One fundamental question is where does the money come from for warring parties to purchase the arms they need? According to the State Department, there are two main avenues, either through hard currency purchases or through what is known as "parallel financing." Parallel financing involves the selling or bartering of goods such as diamonds, timber and cattle. The example of the UNITA rebel movement is cited which has to a large extent used the sale of diamonds to fund it war effort. The Angolan government itself has used loans mortgaged against future oil production. But how do these weapons reach their final destination? According to the report "weapons are flown and shipped into and through Africa by a variety of routes, sometimes directly, often through one or more transhipment points." It cited a number of airfield that have been used. These include Entebbe in Uganda, Goma in the DRC, Kigali, Luanda and Juba in southern Sudan. Seaports are also cited as important entry points, and include Beira in Mozambique, Dar-es-Salaam, Durban, Mombassa in Kenya and Djibouti. It said that upon arrival the weapons are normally sent to there destination by road, rail, air or ferry.