Securitization of the mining sector? The role of the armed forces in state interventions in Tanzania

Abstract

The role of the military in the mining sector in sub-Saharan Africa has been primarily examined through the lens of securitization of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. In many cases, the military have been part of state-led efforts to prevent informal mining. We apply a theoretical framework based on three elements (securitization of the mining sector, the nature of civil–military relations, and the nature of military involvement in the mining sector) to the case of Tanzania, and argue that the securitization concept has some salience in the Tanzania case, but that military involvement in mining can also be viewed as part of broader strategies of the state to promote industrialization, through state-owned enterprises, including military-owned companies. Recent military involvement in mining coincided with a government turn towards resource nationalism, and we conclude that military involvement is linked to discourses and practices of resource nationalism in Tanzania.