Countries in Africa rely heavily on their exportation of diamonds along with oil for income. The revenue from the exportation of rough diamonds has either helped countries develop or lead to catastrophic events. The economic comparison of countries that sell rough diamonds can vary greatly. Some African countries strive for economic independence where as others have faced years of conflict and poverty. The economic and political oversight of rough diamonds compared differently throughout countries in Africa. Two countries that are plentiful in rough diamond resources are Botswana and Angola. These two countries took two different economic paths. Botswana embraced a democratic government and escaped civil war while Angola has suffered years of civil war. Despite the fact that both countries sell the same resource, they faced different economic futures.
In 1967, Botswana became an independent democratic country from Britain. Most of Botswana's revenue at that time came from the agricultural industry. The government of Botswana was approached by a corporation called DeBeers in the early 1970's. DeBeers is a large corporation that oversees the production of rough diamond mines. DeBeers offered Botswana a 50/50 “share ownership in all of the country's diamond mines” (Taylor and Mokhawa 263). Botswana was one of few countries in Africa that saw the potential for economic growth by having a joint venture with DeBeers. When DeBeers and Botswana formed their first partnership, it became a new company called Debswana. The first major exploration discovery of the joint partnership was in a city called Boteti. This is an area rich in rough diamonds and is now called the Orapa field. The diamond mine located here is home to the
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Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
...sumption, creates emission of greenhouse gases and other harmful chemical materials. Once released into the air, it can cause environmental problems, which in turn threatens not only the environment, but also the health of the people who live in it. In order to reduce the use of energy to help protect our planet and our health, the diamond mining industry has implemented renewable energy programs to monitor energy and carbon emission. Since its beginning, mining company PHP Billiton program has saved an equivalent of one million liters of diesel fuel per year at their Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The health of the environment and the health of humanity are as one. Whatever we do to our planet, we do to ourselves. Reducing energy consumption of diamond mining not only helps protect our planet, but also helps protect the health of our people.
In previous years De Beers owned a key resource for diamond production – mines. The monopoly’s power stemmed from the company’s ability to collect the world’s rough diamonds and send them out again, anonymously and bereft of origin. Because of turmoil which the company was facing on all fronts: illegal flow of diamonds from Sierra Leone and Angola, Russia’s diamond fiefdoms, etc; the formerly closely-held corporation had to undergo some rapid changes.
For the past 112 years, De Beers has dominated the diamond industry. Established in April 1880 by Cecil John Rhodes and his partner, Charles Dunell Rudd, De Beers rose to prominence, merging with Barney Barnato’s Kimberley Central Mining company and acquiring more and more mines (Hauser, 2002). The ...
In “ “Blood Diamonds” and Africa’s Armed Conflicts in the Post – Cold War Era, “ Orogun (2004) said that diamonds are referring as “clean stones”. This article explains about the black market is really happening in African. I am using this article to support how the black market of diamond trades is still not regulated, and they defined it as “licit” trade.
...iple types of plants in them) rather than monoculture as found in the Old World.
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
Up until the 19th century, diamonds were considered to be one of the most prized possessions that could be found, hence they were reserved only for those who are the heads of royal families. However, this all changed when English-born businessman Cecil John Rhodes bought up diamond fields in South Africa as well as claims to the diamonds and began the company ‘De Beers’, named after two brothers who had found deposits of the commodity on their land, which made it possible for the general public to own a piece of this precious stone – at a high price.
Said to be a girl's best friend, diamonds are often seen as a symbol of poverty, war, and death for many Africans. Due to the cruel and inhuman manner by which these diamonds are mined and process, the trade of these illicit gems must be stopped. Conflict diamonds or blood diamonds are often associated with war, forced labor, child labor, and smuggling. Paul Orogun wrote an article for in the journal, World Affairs, where he describes some of the brutal conflicts in recent African history. “Blood Diamonds and Africa's Armed Conflicts in the Post—Cold War Era”, in which he talks about the conflicts associated with the illegal diamond trade. Orogun de...
The African Diamond Trade is a large cycle of exploitation. An estimated 65% of diamonds mined worldwide originate in Africa (Cahill 2009). In 2016, the U.S. diamond industry grew 4% to reach $40 billion, approximately half of a global $80 billion industry (DeBeers Group 2017). But how do these diamonds make it from African river banks to American engagement rings? According to Time Magazine, there are 6 steps that take diamonds from the ground to the jewelry store; exploration, mining, sorting, cutting and polishing, manufacturing, and retailing (John and Jones 2015). Each of these steps adds value to the final product that is offered in jewelry stores worldwide but this value isn’t added fairly to those who create the most value.
In Zaire, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many children wake up to go mining for diamonds instead of going to school. When we think of diamonds, we tend to think of a precious gift that is a rarity which is tended to be given in proposals or other special occasions. The truth is, diamonds are quite common in west and central Africa, but to profit more off these blood diamonds the industry markets them off to be much more rare than they actually are. Blood diamonds, why are they called blood diamonds? Possibly because they are made by the bloody hands of small children who are in physical, mental, and emotional harm from working this burdensome job every day.
There are many different types of diamonds that vary in value. Koh-I-Noor is one of the most expensive diamonds and the Cullian is another that can be bought at the price of 400 million (3,106.75 carats) and it is one of the largest diamonds found. Diamonds represent wealth, love, and elegance, while the history behind them is brutal, awful, sickening, and bloody. Millions of diamonds came out of areas that have been mining for 50-60 years. The slaves that participate in the mining process are poor; some slaves get paid a share of what they did, others work simply for food, and some work under false hopes of one day catching the big one. They were known as the “Casino economy” because sometimes they found diamonds and other times they went home empty handed (Africa’s Diamond Trade). Blood diamond slavery didn’t get the world’s attention until the late 1990’s in Sierra Leone (Diamond facts.org). Blood diamonds originated in Sierra Leone, Angola, Democra...
Although the Kimberley Process says that 99% of all diamonds are conflict free, diamonds from the Central African Republic, Angola, and Zimbabwe, the countries where diamond related violence has occurred in recent years, make up at least 10 percent of the diamond supply or more and they have not been reported (“Blood Diamond
The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry.
...nts because of the amount of money they can earn by supporting one of these “blood diamond” groups. Angola has estimated around 10 million land mines. Another source of crime diamonds cause is theft. Since diamonds are so expensive and desirable, occasionally armed robbers attempt to steal millions of dollars in valuable diamonds, escaping with the minerals and hoping to live off the proceeds the act provides. Overall, diamonds are a source of great power, with an unparalleled durability that is unmatched by any other earthly mineral, created deep within the earth at extremely high temperatures and pressures, worth very much money to either create synthetically, discover, or mine, can be found with many colors based upon the elements used to create it, as well as a source of crime and corruption from those that wish to share in the extravagance these diamonds create.