FORBES — In Violent Congo, Hope In The Shape Of A Coffee Bean
FORBES — In Violent Congo, Hope In The Shape Of A Coffee Bean
Friday October 18th, 2013
A displaced Congolese woman stands in her ramshackle shelter during a food aid distribution exercise conducted by humanitarian agencies at a camp for the internally displaced in Mugunga, on November 24, 2012. Thousands of people have been displace in sporadic fighting between M23 rebel outfit against government forces in easten D.R. Congo's north-Kivu region after M23 seized control of the regional capital Goma. Regional leaders called on DR Congo rebel group M23 Saturday to end hostilities and relinquish a key eastern town it seized in an advance that has sparked fears of a wider conflict. The meeting of heads of state went forward without a key player -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose country the United Nations accuses of backing the rebels -- and wrapped up quickly. AFP PHOTO/Tony KARUMBA (Photo credit should read TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images)
Colin Powell once said that “capital is a coward,” and the data shows that foreign private investment generally waits a decade before re-entering post-conflict countries. Yet the world can’t wait that long. This blog post is about capital becoming more courageous in places like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where economic reconstruction can contribute mightily to the transition to peace and security, even in regions still ravaged by war.
