Botswana, Diamonds and You

Ever since Leonardo DiCaprio’s staring appearance in the 2006 movie ‘Blood Diamond’ some pseudo-savants have been concerned over the social affects of diamond sourcing without bothering to check facts.  If, perhaps, Charles Leavitt (author of the screenplay) and Edward Zwick (director) could put together a similarly gripping film about columbite-tantalite (important to cell phone manufacture) their attention might be redirected.  At least two unsavory rebel groups in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo are actively engaged in human rights abuses to mine this mineral; but it seems to draw little attention while some continue to demonize diamond sourcing   Nothing could be more misleading.  Allow me to direct your attention to Botswana.

For those of you who’ve never looked into it, you may be pleased to learn that in 2002, and without a shot being fired, the diamond business, agreeing to the Kimberly Process, purged itself of many of the demons raised (long after the fact!) in the ‘Blood Diamond’.   The Kimberly Process is an agreement to frustrate the use of rough diamonds to finance rebellions; and as one of the original parties to the agreement, Botswana deserves a look. Unlike Zimbabwe, where diamond profits, embezzled by corrupt officials, are used to support Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial government, and unlike the diamonds of ‘Blood Diamond’, Botswana’s diamonds have been used for the public good since they were first discovered to be commercially recoverable in 1967.  Indeed, when CNN interviewed Botswana’s Education Minister  Jacob Dicky Nkate (since returned to the private practice of law), about the country’s diamond wealth he pointedly said, "Our former leaders were visionaries.  They insisted that after the discovery of diamonds, every single [citizen] be entitled to a free education from first grade to a doctorate degree free of charge. How many democracies can boast that achievement?"

In fact, or at least according to the ‘CIA World Fact Book’, diamonds have been the driving force in raising Botswana from one of the world’s poorest nations to  one of ‘middle’ wealth with a per capita domestic product on a par with Russia, Chile and Turkey.  The joint diamond mining venture between DeBeers and Botswana, ‘Debswana’, is the world's largest diamond producer by value; and it

is the source of about 30% of Botswana's Gross Domestic Product.  Between dividends, royalties and taxes, the company is the source of virtually 50% of all of Botswana’s Government revenues, and more than 95% of the company’s more than 7,000 employees are Botswanans.   The downside to this, of course, is that Botswana’s dependence on diamonds raises the risk that when the diamonds run out (thought to be about twenty years from now) the economy will collapse.  As this is a foreseeable risk, the Government of Botswana has once again begun to use its diamond wealth as a bootstrap.  DeBeers, for instance, has agreed that beginning this year it will sort all of its diamonds in Gaborone, the country’s capital, which De Beers CEO, Phillippe Mellier, estimates will transform Botswana “into a leading international diamond center.”  And there are other plans as well.

It’s stable and transparent democratic government affords Botswana one of Africa’s best investment climates, one the Government seeks to capitalize on to spur foreign investment in the extraction of some of the other minerals in which the country abounds.  For the present and the diamond buyer, however, it is Botswana’s participation in DeBeers that may be the most telling.

Our former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, may have said it all in a 2009 interview.  “...When you buy a diamond from De Beers, part of that money still today goes to help build and maintain roads and clean water systems in Botswana. You can drive anywhere in that country and you can see services that have been paid for by a legal framework, strong regulations, and a national consensus that the money from the Earth and its riches should be spent on the people of Botswana...”

If that doesn’t justify the purchase of a great diamond to celebrate your great romance, I don’t know what else might.  And for your information, all of our superlative Hearts On Fire diamonds are sourced from DeBeers and then cut to a beauty that others just can’t match.  So check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone us for an appointment to select the perfect statement of your love.  We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers and our greatest pleasure is helping you say what you want to say with a great gift from the heart.  That’s why we’re the uncommon jeweler.

P.S. If you have diamonds, broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.