Diamonds

Southern Africa
Russian diamonds row paralyses Kimberley Process annual meeting

The annual meeting of the international certification body was split on whether or not Russian diamonds should be considered as conflict diamonds. The stalemate prevented the organisation from appointing a new secretary general and setting up its secretariat in Gaborone.

Botswana
Gaborone drafts new mining rules to boost local players

The Botswana government is drafting a revision of the mining act that offers new opportunities to domestic players. It will be presented to parliament by the end of 2023.

Zambia
Abdoulaye 'Gounass' Ndiaye's mysterious Dubai emerald auction

Senegalese billionaire Abdoulaye "Gounass" Ndiaye recently held a discreet, four-day auction sale of Zambian diamonds in Dubai.

Angola
Endiama boss in Macao to shore up Angola diamond industry

The Angolan state diamond mining company Endiama, which is struggling to find sufficient outlets for its diamonds, is hoping for help from the Chinese market.

Botswana
Debswana picks in-house engineer to run mining services subsidiary Naledi

Mining engineer Bokang Thitoyamore has been picked to head up Naledi Mining Services, a subsidiary of Debswana, the joint venture between the state and global diamond giant De Beers.

Botswana
Diamond trader HB Antwerp ditches CEO Oded Mansori

Botswana's diamond marketing partner has given the Belgian-Israeli industry veteran the boot. But the former executive of Steinmetz Diamond Group remains a shareholder.

Botswana, Zimbabwe
Diamonds: Gaborone backs Israeli tycoon Gilad Shabtai

Botswana is to extend the operating licence of the Lerala diamond mine owned by the multi-millionaire former majority shareholder in Viber, despite his company not having restarted operations there since it bought the mine in 2019.

Zimbabwe
Mnangagwa's visit to Russia reactivates Alrosa's diamond mining plans

Executives from the Russian mining group and the Zimbabwean president reached agreement during the recent Russia-Africa summit on a resumption of the group's mining operations in Zimbabwe. Both parties are under pressure from US sanctions.

Central African Republic
Minair, Wagner's favourite local airline

Deprived of some of their plans in Central African Republic for months, the Russian paramilitary group Wagner's men have turned to a local solution and is using the airline Minair.

Zimbabwe
Kuvimba conglomerate must finally invest alone in Great Dyke platinum project

Harare has decided to back out of the mining mega-project to avoid becoming embroiled in a delicate situation with controversial businessman Kuda Tagwirei.

Lesotho
Diamond transport monopoly challenged in Maseru

The four diamond companies operating in Lesotho are protesting against being forced to use a local aviation company to transport their diamonds.

Namibia
India and Namibia launch hi-tech university in Windhoek

The next generation of Namibian IT experts to begin training at the brand new India-Namibia Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (INCEIT) in Windhoek.

The New Guard
South Africa, Egypt, Togo

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence spotlights a new generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

South AfricaZanele Mbuyisa, the #MeToo lawyer who might shake up the entire continent

EgyptSeif Thabet, the businessman who stands up to the military

TogoEstelle Komlan, first woman to head a trading room in WAEMU zone

Central African Republic
EU ambassador travels with airline under US sanctions

Douglas Carpenter, EU ambassador to Bangui, recently took a flight operated by Minair. That firm's parent company is the Central African mining company Badica, whose assets were frozen by the EU between 2015 and 2021 following UN sanctions, which have since been lifted.