Zim diamond conference to provide insight into challenges facing local industry

Zimbabwe said the country’s second diamond conference set for Harare early next month is expected to provide an insight into issues affecting the domestic diamond industry. The conference penciled for 6-7 November, will be attended by several global diamond industry players including ministers from African gem producing countries.
Africa accounts for 61 percent of the world’s diamond production by value and 56 percent by volume.
"This is an opportunity for representatives of government, civil society and diamond industry organizations to get a detailed understanding of the issues affecting our domestic diamond industry, but also of the wider diamond business," Zimbabwe’s mines permanent secretary Francis Gudyanga was quoted as saying by Idexonline.
"These issues have not been specifically debated in Africa before. We believe that the high caliber of representatives from across the globe and from all parts of the supply chain shows the level of interest in our diamond trade and we hope this conference will act as a platform to take forward our national diamond trade."
Meanwhile, the conference would feature three panel discussions featuring different aspects of the challenges facing the Zimbabwean diamond industry and the wider global diamond trade, Idexonline reports.
The conference would run under the theme “Completing Zimbabwe’s Diamond Potential for the Future”.
Zimbabwe’s inaugural diamond conference, which proved to be a success, was held in the resort town of Victoria Falls in November 2012.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished