Greed for loot fuels civil wars, World Bank says

Civil wars are fuelled more often by rebel groups competing with governments for control of valuable commodities like diamonds and coffee rather than by political, ethnic or religious differences, according to a new World Bank report.

The report, ‘Economic Causes of Civil Conflict and their Implications for Policy’ looked at 47 civil wars from 1960-1999, the World Bank said in a news release on Thursday.

It shows that countries which earn around a quarter of their yearly GDP from the export of unprocessed commodities are much more likely to experience civil war than countries with more diversified economies.

“Rebel groups need to meet a payroll without producing anything, so they prey on an economic activity that won’t collapse under the weight of their predatory activities,” says Paul Collier, the author of the study and director of research for the World Bank’s Development Economics Department.

“Primary commodities are the most ‘lootable’ of national assets because they’re tied to a single spot like a diamond mine or a coffee plantation,” he said. “Once a mine shaft has been sunk, it’s worth exploiting even if much of the anticipated profits are lost to the rebels. Once coffee trees have been planted, it’s still worth harvesting their crop even if much of the coffee has to be surrendered. Thus, rebels don’t kill off the activity or force it to shift elsewhere as would happen if manufacturing were the target.”

Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone have been accused of plundering diamond mines.