Business Analysis: The De Beers Group

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The De Beers Group, the dominant agent in the diamond mining, industrial diamond manufacturing and diamond trading sectors, has a significant mining presence in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Africa’s recent history is characterised by the West’s inexorable exploitation of African natural resources, resulting in a continent plagued by corruption, violence and slow development. Through committing to the ‘Living up to Diamonds’ initiative, De Beers aims to create lasting contribution to the communities in which the family of companies operate in (ENP Newswire, 14 June 2011). In a continent notorious for placing profits and monetary returns over human development, the De Beers management of Botswana’s diamonds goes against the trend of exploitation, and has effectively turned “national resources to shared national wealth” (De Beers, 2007). De Beer’s presence in Botswana has highlighted the positive impact of corporate social responsibility and admirable business ethics – a feat that is even more impressive when considering that the social practices undertaken by De Beers has also enabled it to increase its profitability.

In countries such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, or Zambia, governments often lack the ability to gain absolute control over territories (NY Times, 10 July 2010, A23). The result of the ensuing turmoil, and disputes over resources means that countries with a wealth of natural resources are unable to directly benefit from exports. In eastern Congo, “$1 billion in gold is … extracted and exported annually”, however, “revenues for the national Treasury [in 2009] were a mere $37, 000” (NY Times, 10 July 2010, A23). The enormous disparity between Congo’s stock of natural wealth and actual returns reflect the poor bu...

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... 23 Aug. 2011.

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