The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the deadliest the world has seen since World War II, with an estimated 5.4 million lives lost since 1998 (IRC 2011). The war, which started in order to depose a dictator and officially ended in 2003 with a peace accord being signed and the country's first democratic elections following in 2006, continues in a different form today (Economist 2011). The DRC has a history of economic activity taking place outside the official, legal ambit of the state, and this has persisted to date.