No gemologists yet in local diamond space
Tuesday, February 12, 2019

This follows a question raised by MP Mephato Reatile on Monday asking the minister about how many Batswana gemologists and diamond trading specialists are employed at Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) and Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) and when Botswana intends to establish an Accredited Gemologist Association.
The minister said the two companies only deal in rough diamonds not in polishing the jewellery segment of the diamond value chain. He indicated that ODC has a team of seven Batswana currently performing rough diamond valuation, assortment quality assurance and diamond technical sale lots creation.
The elections had two teams namely: Team Reshaping MISA and Team Integrity. All Team reshaping MISA member won except for one candidate for the Secretary post. One can say it was a long road to the elections, looking at the fact that it took four years for the elections to be held. MISA board elections are supposed to be held every two years, but they could not be held in time due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected many...