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In the context of an investment boom in the extractive sector, Mozambique recently experienced another armed conflict. The correlation between natural resources abundance and dependence and violent conflict is widely known as ‘resource curse’. This study examines whether the outbreak of armed conflict in Mozambique is a resource curse. The research finds that natural resources are related to but insufficient to explain the outbreak of armed conflict. The new discovery of natural resources changes both the magnitude and distribution of rents what threatens the existing power distribution between the waring parties, Frelimo and Renamo. The change in power distribution changes the socio-economic and political context, or political settlement, and when these changes give rise to certain conditions, violent conflict emerges. These conditions explain the outbreak of armed conflict in Mozambique.

The theory that a country’s dependence on primary resource exports canharm its development prospects has received extensive attention within academic circles. This phenomenon appears to be quite evident in a country like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which possesses considerable mineral wealth but has been plagued by conflict, corruption and poor governance. This article applies the various streams of resource curse theory to the post-independence history of the DRC to gauge its applicability to the country’s experience. It is clear that resource curse theory offers a compelling explanation for the development trajectory of the DRC, which has been impeded by internal conflict, corruption and ongoing foreign-backed instability.