System of Disparate Exchange: African Experiences

The Angolan Civil war is illustrative of the close interconnection that today exists between raw materials and civil wars as well as of the trading structure that characterises the system of disparate exchange. Disparate exchange leads not merely to a drainage of resources and wealth from the poorer southern countries to the north, but also to impoverishment and destruction following the influx of weapons of war, bought by warring parties with income from sale of diamonds, oil and other indigenous wealth.