Africa and the decade of COVID-19 (3)

This demand for Africa’s wood has come under scrutiny and has raised international concern about the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of Chinese timber supply chains in Africa, particularly in the timber industry in the Congo Basin and the Miombo Woodlands. The growing number of Chinese private logging companies and traders facilitating timber exports to China has caused some disquiet as they operate according to the local standards of legal, customary or informal practices. Research on Chinese timber supply chains has reportedly shown that “illegally harvested timber finds its way to China through complex networks of large and small Chinese and non-Chinese companies, local loggers operating in largely informal local timber markets, and local elites connected to the trade. Though such practices may infringe on state laws, they may involve active participation from local small producers and may be aligned with local informal sector norms.” Tropical forests and the people who depend on them are particularly vulnerable to changes in the sources and volumes of demand for resources including timber, minerals and fertile land for agriculture,” observed the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). It did research on the impacts of globalised trade and investment on forests and communities seeks to understand the main global trends affecting resource and capital flows and their impacts.

The involvement of CIFOR in regional initiatives on the African continent could help policy makers gain recognition on the “long-term economic and ecological impacts of foreign investment as a major hindrance to the forestry sector having a voice in decisions, with potentially significant consequences for forests.” As Africa implements the free trade area agreement, it is evident that many countries will have a hard time trading within that framework at the onset, depending on the peculiarities of their economies. The Central African region remains highly vulnerable and weak, based on the preponderance of their commodities as their major items of trade, particularly in their raw, unprocessed forms. More worrisome, particularly for the DR Congo, is the foreboding of environmental degradation as the country’s cherished forests give way to woods for export to China. The continued exploitation of DR Congo’s forests for wood export could turn out to predispose the country to environmental and economic problem if no policy measures are evolved to curb or regulate such transactions. Left unchecked, the problems have a way of mutually reinforcing as the purchase of the woods by the Chinese would create financial incentives for the locals to embark on restless measures and sharp practices as a way of making money. This, in turn, could fuel violence, leading to insecurity and arms dealing, emergence of non-state local militias as some rival groups would spring up, trying to outdo each other. Ultimately, the wood business itself could become the springboard for internecine crises and violence, the type that the government may find difficult to rein in. The Central African region could become a hotbed of social and security crises, which could also spread to other regions, further complicating the security crises in the continent.