Cameroon, Nigeria, China and Illegal Rosewood

 Africa Uncensored, an independent media house in Kenya, published in February 2022 an investigative report titled "Timber Logging and Crime: How Rosewood Is Stolen in Cameroon, Laundered in Nigeria, and Exported to China" by Christian Locka.

Cameroonian woodcutters illegally cut rare rosewood and then transport it to Nigeria for final shipment to China.  Strong Chinese demand has resulted in organized looting of rosewood forests in several African countries.

Sino-Congo Scandal in the Mines and Forests (in French)

 Notes de l'Ifri published in February 2022 a study titled "Un scandale sino-congolais: L'exploitation illegale des minerais et des forets par les entreprises chinoises au Sud-Kivu" by Justin Mwetaminwa and Thierry Vircoulon.  

The study analyzes the illegal gold mining practices in South Kivu province of Chinese companies and the complicity of Congolese, including the military.  The control of the mining sector by a predatory partnership between foreign interests and local and national elites makes any attempts to improve mining governance illusory.  

Nigeria, China, and the Rosewood Racket

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London and Washington-based environmental advocacy organization, published in October 2017 a report titled "The Rosewood Racket: China's Billion Dollar Illegal Timber Trade and the Devastation of Nigeria's Forests."

Most of the billion dollars' worth of wood exported by Nigeria over the past four years was illegal. According to EIA, Chinese businessmen and Nigerian officials were largely responsible for these illegal exports to China.