Beyond greed and grievance in Sierra Leone

African countries with significant natural wealth have often reaped limited rewards and have experienced underdevelopment, corruption, political instability, and in some cases, violent conflict. As a result, the so-called ‘resource curse’ hypothesis has received much attention in recent years. It has been suggested that diamonds played a key role in fuelling the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone during the 1990s, an issue that has given rise to a significant literature on ‘blood diamonds’. However, as Sierra Leone emerges from a decade of destruction, field-based research undertaken in the Eastern Province suggests that diamonds could actually provide an important impetus for post-war reconstruction. Following a review of the ‘resource curse’ literature and its relevance to Sierra Leone, two important initiatives in the country’s diamond economy are then examined: the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) and the Diamond Area Community Development Fund (DACDF). The paper argues that whilst such initiatives are undoubtedly significant steps in addressing a number of key issues, such strategies need to be managed carefully and future policies must be based on a detailed understanding of relationships between diamond mining and broader development strategies and priorities.