The Botswana-De Beers deal appears to be win/win. Botswana retains direct access to the world market for its diamonds while De Beers has long-term and uninterrupted access to one of the largest diamond supplies in the world. Over the long term, the De Beers move sets the stage for Botswana to emerge as a major participant in all aspects of the diamond industry, not just diamond mining. That’s good for the continued development of the country, already one of Africa’s success stories.
Typically, rough diamonds have been hauled out of African countries and shipped to India, where they create an extraordinary amount of jobs in the cutting and polishing sector. Obviously if you’re an African country with ample diamonds but high unemployment, this might be the sort of thing that would anger you.
That sort of practice is, however, looking to change, by what is called beneficiation, which is where a country seeks to participate in the diamond pipeline beyond simply mining, but into diamond and jewelry manufacturing. This is one of the many good things going on in diamonds, but not without its challenges.
Personally, I see greater value in knowing that my fiancé’s center stone was cut and polished in either New York, Botswana, Namibia or South Africa. Why brand-name diamond manufacturers compete to consumers on minuscule differences in “the perfect cut” while glossing over more real differentiating features like this, I will never understand.