25 Sep 2022

There is need to protect and maintain the integrity and viability of natural diamonds in the face of growing market share competition from, among other things, synthetic or lab grown diamonds, minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi has said.

In his presentation during the Botswana diamond event, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York recently, Mr Moagi said natural diamond market needed to be wary of the acceptance of lab grown diamonds whose market share had now grown from about three per cent in 2020 to the current seven per cent of the global diamond market.

The performance of the diamond industry like other industries, he said, suffered from impacts caused by factors in the world economy.

“Some of these factors are the geo-political situation in Europe as a result of the Russian/Ukrainian crisis which seems to have put a strain on diamond market as it is somehow accelerating the acceptance of lab grown diamonds,” he said.

The minister said there were further challenges in the likes of a rumored movie titled Diamonds are not forever, targeting natural diamonds whilst promoting lab grown.

“This movie is being released in the September/October period, a critical time for the diamond industry as 40 per cent of sales are between November and Christmas,” he said.

He said the movie presented a burning platform for Botswana, and other natural diamond producers, to remain standing and fight for what had been a remarkable journey for Botswana’s economy and the impact of natural diamond mining on improving livelihoods.

Mr Moagi stated that the onus was therefore  upon natural diamond mining countries to aptly demonstrate the significance of natural diamonds to the sustainable development of their citizenry.

This, he said prompted Botswana to protect and maintain the integrity and viability of natural diamonds in the face of the growing market share competition from synthetic or lab grown diamonds.

“Botswana prides itself for maintaining a stable legal and fiscal environment for the mining sector.

When combined with the country’s long-established rule of law tradition, this has encouraged investment in the mining sector by offering stability, predictability and consistency to investors,” Mr Moagi said.

He said the country had from humble beginnings built upon the base provided by rough diamonds to slowly move along the diamond value chain. ENDS