Publications

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BICC brief 38 documents the international conference “Digging for Peace: Private Companies and Emerging Economies in Zones of Conflict” which took place from 21 to 22 November 2008 in Bonn. About 120 participants, amongst them representatives of research institutes, private companies, civil society as well as politicians accepted the invitation by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) and the Fatal Transactions campaign to talk about the challenges of Private Companies and Emerging Economies in Zones of Conflict.
The conference offered a platform for analyzing the current status quo of resource extraction in (potential) conflict areas by presenting case studies of current hot spots in Africa such as Chad, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan. Although companies increase their efforts in positively engaging in post-conflict dynamics, they often are also part of the problem as they become an actor in the conflict instead of a promoter of peace. Conference panels discussed the issues:

• Contemporary Resource Conflicts and Fuel for Peace in Sub-Saharan Africa: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan
• Preventing Conflict, Re-building War-torn Societies: Private Sector Perspectives
• Changing Context: New Emerging Economies and Africa’s Resource Market. Emerging South-South Relations
• EU and China-Africa Relations and Responsibilities in Resource Management in (post-)Conflict Africa