Diamonds in
Africa were formed somewhere between 600 million and 3 billion years ago when
titanic-force pressure and heat caused carbon 1,200 miles (1,931 km) below the
earth's surface to crystallize. As recently as a million years ago, erupting
molten rock brought the diamonds closer to the earth's surface.
Since then,
they have brought joy into the hearts of those who receive them and stress into
the hearts of those who can't afford them. The irony of diamond desire is that
it centers around the idea that diamonds are precious and rare. While diamonds
may be precious gems, they aren't even a little bit rare. Mines in Africa,
Canada and other countries abound with the stones, which are mined, cut and
then marked way up to result in a huge profit.
So many countries
of the world are blessed with this natural gem and African countries are not
left out. Many of us would be able to mention some countries we know that
produces diamonds in commercial quantities but only a few may be able to tell
who the largest producers are. These are generally 15 diamond producing
countries in Africa: Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Congo, Zimbabwe, South Africa,
Guinea, Ghana, Congo, Lesotho, Liberia, Sierra Leone, CAR, Tanzania and Togo.
Africa's
rough diamonds have been increasing in value but the sale proceeds do not reach
the people. Instead, they benefit metropolitan elite and the mine companies,
which are usually foreign-owned, writes Deutsche Welle.
Tanzanian
police struck a blow against international diamond smuggling. A consignment of
diamonds worth around 28 million euros ($33.4 million) was seized at the
country's main airport. Petra Diamonds, the biggest listed diamond company in
the world, based in the tax haven of Jersey, had registered a consignment of 14
kilos (30 pounds.) However, according to the Tanzanian authorities, it actually
weighed 30 kilos. The rough diamonds from the Williamson mine were intended for
export to Belgium for processing.
The
Williamson Mine in the north of Tanzania is a joint venture. 75 percent belongs
to Petra Diamonds, 25 percent to the Tanzanian government. Tanzania's
president, John Magufuli, has declared that combating corruption in the mining
sector is a priority for his government. His anti-corruption platform played a
large part in helping him to power in 2015.
Benedict
Mahona, an economics expert from the University of Dar-es-Salam, told DW that
the seizure of the diamonds from the Williamson Mine was lawful. He explained
that the customs laws of the East African Community are unambiguous: Every
product that is imported or exported from the area must be correctly registered
and declared. "Globally operating companies are systematically plundering
Africa's diamond resources, and only a fraction of the stones are properly
declared and have duty paid on them," Mahona said. He also commented that
the theft of diamonds almost always happens with the help of corrupt locals.
At the same
time, with its tough approach the Tanzanian government runs the risk of
international companies withdrawing their business and jobs being lost as a
result, according to Rebekka Rumpel, an expert in natural resources at the
London think-tank Chatham House. "Tanzania's tough approach is bound to
impact negatively on the country's image," she says. Rumpel reports that a
large-scale investor from Russia who wanted to mine Tanzanian uranium has
already put his project on hold, in part because he was worried about the
investment climate in Tanzania.
Corruption on both sides
President
Magufuli announced that Tanzanians might take over the diamond mines if the
foreign companies continued to be a "problem." Amani Mhinda, an
activist with Haki Madini, describes this as "pure populism." Haki
Madini is a non-governmental organization that advocates transparency in
business. "That didn't work in the past, either," says Mhinda.
"Indigenous companies are at least as corrupt as foreign ones."
Tanzania is
more of a mid-level player on the African diamond market. The East African
country is ranked tenth among the continent's biggest diamond producers. The
Tanzanian government hopes that by 2025 the mining industry will contribute at
least twice as much GDP as it has to date. At the moment its contribution is
less than four percent.
Zimbabwe: Diamond money for the state
apparatus of repression
Diamonds
have not brought prosperity to Zimbabwe, either. Three quarters of people in
Zimbabwe, Africa's fifth largest diamond producer, live in extreme poverty. The
Zimbabwean government does not give out precise information about how much
diamonds contribute to its revenue.
"Billions
have vanished before ever reaching the Zimbabwean Treasury," the current
report by the British anti-corruption group Global Witness states. The
diamonds, it says, have not benefited ordinary people. On the contrary: According
to this report, the country's secret service and military have siphoned off a
significant portion of the revenue for themselves, and have used it to finance
their activities. "Zimbabwe's democracy has been undermined and it has led
to serious human rights abuses," says Michael Gibb, who submitted the
report for Global Witness.
Similar
structures to those in Zimbabwe are also to be found in other big diamond
countries in Africa. Diamond deposits have also led to more poverty, violence
and oppression in Angola or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Botswana: More transparency, more added
value
Things are
different in Botswana. The biggest diamond producer in Africa is regarded as a
model in many respects when it comes to channeling profits from the export of
raw materials back into society. 75 percent of the country's foreign exchange
revenue comes from the sale of rough diamonds.
Botswana
seems to have learned from the negative examples in Africa. It tries to keep
the value-added chain in the country for as long as possible. A large quantity
of the rough diamonds are processed - divided, cut, polished, drilled - in
Botswana itself. Until just a few years ago, this was done in, for example, the
Belgian city of Antwerp, or in Israel. This is still the case with other
African diamond producers.
Using diamond money to improve the economy
overall
Unlike
almost all the other countries in Africa, Botswana has dealt carefully with its
riches. The government affords itself social programmes that its African neighbors
regard with envy. These include free education and free health care. In
addition, part of the money from diamond mining is put towards improving the
road, telephone and internet networks.
Now, all
Botswana has to do is successfully invest profits from diamond mining in
building up other branches of industry as well, Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, an
Africa expert at Oxford University, told DW in an interview: "Then it can
be guaranteed that even more money will remain in the country in future."
Additional
reports by Columbus Mavhunga and Sudi Mnette.
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