The political economy of roadblocks in the Central African Republic

Abstract

Studies (DIIS) conducted a mapping of roadblocks in the Central African Republic. This data collection campaign also features more than 200 interviews with various actors and was combined with data from other reports on roadblocks to form a comprehensive study on the political economy of roadblocks in the Central African Republic. Roadblocks are a manifestation of control over trade routes, a formidable source of funding for all parties to the conflict as well as a mechanism to govern and restrict movement. Ex-Seleka groups derive a substantial part of their financing from roadblocks; anti-balaka groups try to disrupt enemy logistics; and the government in Bangui depends on the crucial supply corridor to Cameroon, both for consumption goods and import taxes.

Paths of authority, roads of resistance: Ambiguous rural infrastructure and slippery stabilization in eastern DR Congo

“…This is most obvious with roadblocks. In North Kivu, over 400 roadblocks exist at average intervals of 18 km, and roadside taxation makes up an estimated 25% of transport costs for vehicles and up to 50% for people carrying produce on foot (Schouten et al, 2017;cf. Ferf et al, 2014).…”

Roadblock politics in Central Africa

“…2 Both to lend substance to this widespread concern and to contribute to the politicization of roadblocks, a team composed of national human rights defenders in the DRC and CAR, 3 the Belgian International Peace Information Service, and the Danish Institute for International Studies collectively designed and conducted a “counter-cartography” (Cowen, 2014: 226) in which roadblocks take the center stage. This ongoing mapping (published as Schouten and Kalessopo, 2017; Schouten et al., 2017), which has already yielded data on over 1,000 roadblocks in both countries, combines qualitative fieldwork and mobile technology-based geosurveying methods specially designed for this purpose. 4…”