- Washington “follows with interest” Morocco’s openness onto Africa (John Kerry)Posted 11 years ago
- The trial of South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius opened in Pretoria on Monday.Posted 11 years ago
- USA welcomes efforts of King Mohammed VI in MaliPosted 11 years ago
- Egypt’s population reaches 94 millionPosted 11 years ago
- Mugabe celebrates his 90thPosted 11 years ago
- Moroccan Monarch to Build a Perinatal Clinic in BamakoPosted 11 years ago
- King Mohammed VI handed a donation of bovine semen for the benefit of Malian breeders.Posted 11 years ago
- Moroccan King’s strategic tour to Africa: Strengthening the will of pan African Solidarity and stimulating the south-south cooperation mechanisms over the continentPosted 12 years ago
- Senior al-Qaida leader killed in AlgeriaPosted 12 years ago
- Libya: The trial of former Prime Minister al-Baghdadi AliPosted 12 years ago
Mugabe hints to streamline diamond sector in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is streamlining its diamond sector so that only one or two companies remain operational in the southern African country, President Robert Mugabe has said.
The Herald newspaper quoted him as saying on Friday that the country needs to emulate its diamond producing neighbors that have very few diamond mining firms.
Discovered in 2006, the Marange diamond field has been reported to contain huge diamond deposits capable of satisfying 25 percent of the global market.
The Zimbabwe government has partnered some foreign firms in mining the Marange gems.
“In fact, we are reorganizing the diamond industry so that we create one or just two companies not more than that, like we have in South Africa, in Botswana, Namibia, Angola. You do not have multiplicity of companies doing diamonds,” the president said.
He said the state, one or two companies and a possible foreign partner were all that Zimbabwe needed to exploit its gems.
“A partner who is reliable, who has also capacity from the point of view of technology as indeed also from the point of view of investment capital,” Mugabe said.
Since commercial exploitation of the Marange gems began a few a years ago, the government is expecting diamond revenue to play a considerable role in economic revival efforts.
The country held its first ever diamond auction in Antwerp last December, generating 10.7 million U.S. dollars from the sale of about 300,000 carats of diamonds.
A second auction at Antwerp of about 900,000 carats ran from Feb. 12 to 21.
The Zimbabwe government has said it plans to widen its market base by selling its diamonds in the United Arab Emirates, China and Botswana before it begins domestic sales possibly by June this year.
