From toilet paper and baby formula shortages to skyrocketing global gas prices, the past two years presented challenges across the globe. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War have highlighted the interconnectedness of the world's economies, especially regarding resource management and supply chains. It has also exposed, more than ever before, who benefits and suffers in these interconnected trade deals. To examine this question, this article will be looking at just one of Africa’s abundant and valuable resources-diamonds.
Many societies highly value diamonds because they are considered to be beautiful and to symbolize love and friendship. Given their beauty, their worth, and the joy they often bring as symbols of love, we have trouble understanding that diamonds have caused great human suffering in parts of Africa. In this article, we are going to focus on one of three violent regional conflicts in Africa in which diamonds play an important role.
Diamonds represent an industry worth over $81.4 billion per year, with 65 percent of global production sourced from Africa. While they are a high-end, luxury resource, the process of obtaining diamonds from the earth is not nearly as glamorous. Human rights violations plague the diamond mining industry and commonly include child labor. Conditions are often atrocious with labor-intensive and hazardous work, scandalously low pay, violent management or threat of violence, and harrowing impacts on nearby communities. The mining industry is also riddled with conflict, giving rise to the term “blood diamonds” in the early 2000s.
Map of countries affected by conflict diamonds. Source: Wikipedia
Examining the Diamond Supply Chain
Examining the diamond supply chain starts at the source-the miners themselves. While sources and numbers vary from country to country, the pay is often nearly negligible, whether child or adult. Nearly a million African miners make a wage of less than $1 per day. Within diamond mining, there are two main types of mines: industrial mines and artisanal/small-scale mines. The supply chain begins to obscure from the mines as it travels and crosses multiple borders through the various stages of development towards its final product. Put simply-these mining operations feed into traders or trading hubs.
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Two of the top trading hubs in the world are Belgium and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the latter overtaking Belgium as the leading rough diamond trading hub in 2021. According to the CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, $22.8 billion of rough diamonds were traded through UAE in 2021 alone. Although African diamonds do not account for the entirety of that figure, the disparity from $22.8 billion to $1 per day is staggering. If not the laborers, who else benefits from that profit margin? Presumably, it would be the owners of the mines and the government from which the diamonds originate.
It is at these trading hubs that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is enacted and issued. Implemented in 2003, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is an active international safeguard against blood diamonds-or conflict diamonds-with the goal of increasing transparency around diamond sourcing. The KPCS is one of the only existing international regulations on the diamond trade-any other regulations are up to each nation to determine. In addition, having the KPCS occur at this stage means that many domestic actors are missed in its evaluation. Since these trading hubs are often international and not located internally in the country of the diamond’s origin, it is the trading hub country that is listed as the exporter. This leaves many loopholes and missed steps within the KP certification process, so its stamp of approval is not nearly as comprehensive and trustworthy as it should be.
Post KP certification, the diamonds enter what is called the midstream and downstream portion of the supply chain. This includes cutting, polishing, manufacturing, and consumer and retail sales.
Understand the Kimberley Process in Two minutes
Diamonds and Conflict: The Case of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone's civil war raged for several years until 2002 and the country became synonymous with blood diamonds, recently serving as the backdrop to a Leonardo Di Caprio movie about the illegal trade. The Revolutionary United Front, formed in 1991, was particularly effective in gaining control of part of the diamond trade to fund their war effort. The RUF was able to benefit from the diamond trade because of help they received from neighboring Liberia.
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Diamonds were smuggled across the border into Liberia. Liberia, produces very little diamonds of its own, yet between 1991-1998, Liberia exported over 31 million carats of diamonds to Brussels, Belgium, where the Diamond High Council is located. The Diamond High Council is an organization which controls the world diamond trade. Clearly, the diamonds exported from Liberia were smuggled from Sierra Leone, many by supporters of the RUF. The money earned from the sale of these diamonds bought weapons and ammunition for the RUF. Diamonds have been used to bring terrible suffering and, at times, death to innocent people throughout Sierra Leone.
Had these diamonds been traded legally, the hundreds of millions of dollars earned could have been used to help deal with the many problems facing the people of Sierra Leone. For some people, diamonds are more than "forever", witness the death of more than 75,000 civilians in the Sierra Leonean civil war.
The Kimberley Process: A Critical Assessment
To halt the trade in "blood diamonds" - gems whose sales fuel deadly conflicts - the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established in 2003. But as signatory states meet in Namibia this week, one of the scheme’s architects said the Kimberley Process is not working. “When you see what the Kimberley Process can do it’s very disappointing where it fails,” said Ian Smillie. When it was launched, the Kimberley Process was promoted as the way to clean up the diamond trade because it can trace and certify the origins of all rough diamonds.
Consumers should be able to tell where their diamonds come from and whether they are fueling conflict. Seventy-five governments have since signed up to the self-regulatory code. But Smillie does not believe that the certification process is working. Smillie's criticisms of the Kimberley process were repeated by Global Witness, a London-based human rights group which tracks international mining activities.
In Sierra Leone, the Kimberley Process has helped limit the trade in illegal diamonds. Activists estimate that during the civil war the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels raked in around $125 million a year from smuggled diamonds. Back then, official exports of diamonds from Sierra Leone were worth a little more than $1 million a year. Although some smuggling still goes on, official exports are now worth well over $100 million a year, providing much-needed funds for the government.
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Blood Diamonds and Conflict Resources
Blood diamonds (also called conflict diamonds, brown diamonds, hot diamonds, or red diamonds) are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. The term is used to highlight the negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas, or to label an individual diamond as having come from such an area. Diamonds mined during the 20th-21st century civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau have been given the label.
The terms conflict resource or conflict minerals refer to analogous situations involving other natural resources. Despite efforts to frustrate the sale of resources emerging from conflicts, a notable workaround is the agreement of what Michael Ross terms 'booty futures'. In these agreements, worth tens of millions of dollars, both rebels and government parties to the conflict negotiate deals to realize value now from the prospect of resource exploitation in the future.
Diamonds in Kenya
Kenya holds enormous potential as a future source of sapphires with their access to the Mozambique Orogenic Belt, which bisects the country in a north-south direction. While the ruby and tsavorite garnet deposits of Kenya are well known, sapphires are a relatively new and unexplored resource. To date, the country’s sapphire wealth has not been completely inventoried and new deposits are continually being discovered in many different parts of the country. As we move into 2020, promising mining locations include the Baringo district, which produces pink sapphires; Garba Tula, which produces blue, green, and yellow sapphires; and Turkana, which is known for its blue sapphires. As mining endeavors develop further in Kenya, the government is getting involved and looking to promote the industry as a boon for tourism.
Botswana: A Success Story
The diamond mining industry represents more than 40 percent of Botswana’s GDP and 90 percent of its exports. Given this, one might expect Botswana to be a victim of the “natural resource curse,” however, it is ranked among the top five highest GDPs per capita and the top five most democratic countries in Africa. One such contributor is their partnership with DeBeers, whom since the discovery of major diamond reserves in Africa, has “entered into a 50-50 joint venture with the government…[and has] also sold the government a 15 percent stake in the company,” displaying a true partnership rather than exploitation. The company also prides themselves on their corporate social responsibility, demonstrated through the significant gesture of closing its major diamond sorting facility in London and opening a new one in Gaborone, creating local employment opportunities and providing the opportunity for Botswana diamonds to remain in Botswana for a larger portion of the supply chain process.
Another factor in Botswana’s success story further displays the country’s commitment to transparency and fair mining practices. The Botswana government is lobbying to create a new, permanent headquarters for the Kimberley Process in-country.
Ensuring Fair Benefits from Natural Resources
To ensure that African countries experience the full benefit of their natural resource wealth, change needs to first be demanded and enforced at the top of the supply chain. Like DeBeers, corporations worldwide should closely examine their supply chains to ensure that they are sourcing from mines and drill sites that pay their employees living wages, provide safe working conditions, and prevent child labor where possible. However, it should be noted that in some cases, outlawing child labor outright may do more harm than good at this point, given that many families rely on additional sources of income. In addition, corporations should begin requiring increased transparency from trading hubs and “middle-men” in the supply chain.
These oversights throughout the diamond supply chain are echoed in the industries of Africa’s other abundant natural resources, including: platinum, cobalt, phosphate, gold, copper, coal, iron ore, lead, uranium, petroleum, natural gas, etc. While there are successes such as Botswana's diamond industry, some countries, unfortunately, face challenges with government corruption or instability.
Other Gemstones from Africa
While most people will know that Africa is the major source of diamonds, the colored gemstone trade is gradually becoming more significant. Although manufacturing colored gemstone is extend across many small mines in several countries. The main producing African countries can be found in the southern and eastern region. These countries stretch from Namibia in the southwest up to Ethiopia and to Madagascar which is the largest island along the shoreline of Mozambique. They all lie on the same gemstone-rich region referred to as the Neoproterozoic Mozambique Belt.
Colored stones coming from the African mines are constantly changing with ew gems begin discovered every other week. Buyers have been educated to “purchase it while you can” since the stones are plentiful but they may not be in the next year. This is what happened with the fine Spessartite Garnet, which came from Namibia. While there is still a supply of stones from Namibia, it is not easy to get, and most of the Spessartite Garnet now originates from Mozambique. The most significant countries that recently produced these stones are Madagascar, Tanzania, and Mozambique. However, Madagascar is well-known for their latest discoveries of Sapphire and Ruby.
As well as the stone above, other gemstones that have been found include:
- Apatite
- Andalusite
- Iolite
- Citrine
- Chrysoberyl
- Kyanite
Mozambique has also become one of the famous producers of Paraiba Tourmaline, and most of the global supply of Paraiba is now originating from Mozambique. Perhaps the most important mining operation in Mozambique at the moment would be the Gemfields Mozambique Ruby mines. These Rubies are being mined and sold directly the market via an auction.
Since the supply of gemstones from Brazil is quite restricted, Nigeria was considered as the largest supplier among the West African nations. This is significant as it is not in the Mozambique Belt. Nigeria is highly-regarded for it’d blue sapphire as well as large quantities of fine tourmaline. Nigeria is also well-known for Sapphire, AlmandineGarnet, Aquamarine, and Topaz.
Meanwhile, Tanzania is a massive source of jewels. The industry already employs more than a 500 million in small-scale mining. Tanzania is particularly well-known for Tanzanite. This year Tanzanian Spinels from Mahenge have been in the spotlight. The colors of these Spinels can rival the most beautiful Ruby and have been steadily increasing in popularity. Other gemstones from Tanzania include the stunning Rhodolite Garnet, Tsavorite Garnet, and several exclusive stones such as unheated zircon. Mozambique is also generating excellent tourmaline in various colors.
During the early 1970s geologists pursued gemstones along the Kenya-Tanzania boundary. This lead to a new ruby discovery as well as a remarkable Tsavorite discovery along southeaster Kenya. Nowadays, East Africa is considered the main gemstone-producing region. East Africa has the potential to turn out to be the world’s main expensive stones resources.
Tanzanite. Source: wondersoftanzania.com
Tanzanite
Tanzanite is considered as one of the world’s rarest stones as stunning and exclusive. Tanzanite’s exclusive place in the gem kingdom with only one supply in the world it is allocated out, but still, Tanzanite will be the typical heirloom as well as, into the next generation. In the near future, the only manner to own it will be to take over it. One of the most excellent top secrets to keep the Tanzanite trade is the extremely rare amount of Tanzanite that is intermittently discovered. Some individuals have heard about the green Tanzanite, but the wonders of yellows and oranges are not yet known to most people.
Their shortage and the fact, that they are so not often found have prepared them the maintenance of the collectors. Some of the Tanzanite enthusiasts who are well-informed are proud to be capable to present a delectable collection of these formerly unattainable, remarkably unusual stones. Tanzanite is an amazing stone as it occurs in only one place globally. Its blue, enclosed with a hint of lavender is a magnificent color. Thanks to its remarkable quality that significantly helps the jeweler’s of New York as it has quickly become one of the most popular stones all over the world.
It was named after the East African state of Tanzania, the only place around the world where it has been originated. Africa is the only continent that gives the world a huge number of truly outstanding stones such as tanzanite. On its discovery in 1967, it was passionately distinguished by the specialists as the “Stone of the 20th Century”. The excitement is always there as they caught the first deep-blue minerals, which had been found along the Merelani Hills in the northern Tanzania.
Tsavorite Garnet
Tsavorite is considered as one of the world’s unusual stones with only one significant source yet discovered, especially here in East Africa. Physically, it has better-quality compare with the Emerald on all aspects as being tough, brighter, and in a pure green tone. This stone has top grade, profound, intense, colorful, and with high-clarity. Tsavorite is both found both in Tanzania and Kenya, but in fact the consensus, which was completed by among gemologists and gem sellers. This stone is quite comparable also with Emerald, as well. This stone is vivid, tough, and thus more hard-wearing. It is also unusual as these stones cut over 3 cts, which are truly exceptional.
These attributes make this stone a highly-regarded and precious stone. Tsavorite is a particularly ancient jewel. The snowy, capped of Mt. Kilimanjaro is considered as the utmost mountain found in Africa. What could be more idealistic than an excellent, flashing, green-stone? In fact, the spotless green Tsavorite is a young stone with an extensive geological history. Its origin can be found at the East-African along the boundary of Tanzania and Kenya. A small number of mines lie in an exclusively, attractive landscape of dry, plain with bare, hills.
Rhodolite Garnet
Rhodolite Garnet is the leading garnet in the red garnet family. It should not be confused with the ever-present Pyrope dark-red garnet, which is typically connected with estate jewelry. Also, this beautiful plum, cherry-red garnet is an attractive gemstone. It is usually found in an amount of minerals all over the world, the well-known Umba River Valley located in Tanzania is the much-admired source of the world’s finest Rhodolite.
Rhodolite is the term utilized to illustrate the beautiful pink, purple or red-purple garnet which is a combination of Pyrope and Almandite. This fashionable stone shows a magnificent, smooth red with an admirable lavender or raspberry tinted stone. This name was primarily used in the late 19th century in order to explain the innovative rhododendron color of garnet, which was discovered in North Carolina.
Malaia Garnet
Malaia Garnet is a stone though not several individuals have heard all about it. It has remained the maintenance of some collectors for two decades since it was revealed, mostly with its severe rarity. Across between the Pyrope and Spessartite garnet, this dazzling stone display an interesting variety of colors from a blistered orange into a desirable orange-pink with the unusual pieces. Tanzania is the only well-known resource for this beautiful stone and these stones always present some of the most excellent, excellent pieces of stone.
Malaya or Malaia garnet is a gemological variety name for radiant into dark-pink, orange, red-orange, and yellow- orange garnet, which is a combination of spessartite and pyrope. In 1970’s, rough Malaia garnets were being combined with distinctive parcels of Rhodolite garnet. These unusual, colored gemstones were discarded, and the term given to this sort of garnet wasMalaia, which means “Swahili” that literally meansoutcast. It originated into treatment for amount of garnets that did not go well into any of the typical types.
