Afrimond to host this year's diamond pitso

Staff Writer | Wednesday January 11, 2012 00:00

 

Afrimond Diamond & Jewellery Institution will host the 2012 Diamond Beneficiation Workshop at Maharaja Conference Centre on 25-26 January.

In an interview, the Managing Director of Afrimond, Todd Majaye, said diamond beneficiation was not only about diamond processing but other opportunities that the process would bring, among them tourism, aviation, road transport, property development, hotels and restaurants.

'Afrimond is offering the Botswana public and the formal sector this opportunity to learn and hear firsthand information (by major diamond and economic drivers) on the diamond industry diversification and its impact on the national economic diversification drive,' Majaye said.

In addition to Afrimond, presenters at the workshop will include the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, DTC Botswana, Botswana Diamond Manufacturers Association and financial institutions.

'The workshop will be highly interactive and will focus primarily on sharing specific and detailed information on the transformation of the Botswana's diamond industry into a world-class diamond centre and the benefits to the nation and individual citizens,' Majaye added.

Topics to be discussed include an overview of past, present and future trends in the local diamond industry, the beneficiation road map and its impact on Botswana's economic diversification drive and the role of DTC Botswana in the diamond beneficiation process.

Majaye said participants would also deliberate on the role of the Diamond Hub in the diamond beneficiation process, the role of the government diamond valuer, what the recently signed Government/De Beers sales agreement means to an ordinary citizen as well as financing the diamond trading and processing industry.

The workshop will be the second in as many years after last year's diamond pitso that was attended by over 250 delegates from diamond centres across the world.

The 2011 Pitso was part of the 2011 President's Meeting of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).

It was co-hosted by the Botswana Diamond Manufacturers Association (BDMA), the Botswana Diamond Hub, the International Diamond Manufacturers Association and the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA).

The Botswana diamond manufacturing industry blossomed in 2006 with the licensing of 12 new polishers and cutters, creating 3,000 direct jobs and ancillary sectors like banking, security and transport.

Although the industry is growing with businesses becoming more viable, analysts feel the greatest challenges the businesses face is that they are still detached from the rest of the market both geographically and operationally.Nevertheless, the industry can only grow in Botswana because all of DTC's international sights and aggregation will relocate to Gaborone from London by 2013.