Although business–NGO partnerships have received much attention in recent years, insights have been obtained only from research in “stable” contexts, not from conflict-ridden countries where such collaboration may be even more crucial in building trust and capacity and in addressing governance problems given the absence of a reliable state. This article aims to shed light on business–NGO collaboration in a conflict setting, exploring partnership activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Most partnerships found are philanthropic and deal with “traditional” (...) issues such as health and education in a donor-recipient mode with limited community involvement. There are only a few real transformative partnerships, which address aspects directly related to the conflict from a wider community focus; these involve extractive companies most exposed via mineral development/production. The study also found so-called engagement collaboration that can be divided into activities including the transfer of funds , and those without funds, focusing on knowledge exchange that furthers companies’ awareness of conflict-sensitive issues into their operations. Peculiarities of the different types of partnerships as well as implications for research and practice are discussed. (shrink)