Sightholders Moving to Botswana?

I do not agree that beneficiation is an unproven concept. Beneficiation, or adding value to a product before export is applied and used in all sorts of sectors around the world. What is unproven or unknown in the diamond industry, is what business models will work in different places. Running a cutting factory in India is different than in Russia, New York, Canada or Botswana. Time is needed to test / try different business models to determine which ones work best given a particular economic, social and political framework. In my opinion, in order to be successful, it is not enough just to build a factory and hire some locals, but the skills and knowledge needed to operate a diamond business need to be transferred. Again how best to do that will be different in South Africa, in Botswana, in Canada, in Angola etc...

Ok Rob, i get your point, perhaps I weighed in heavily there, you probably sounded like the other merchants of doom out there. The fact is it has to be tried, it would be nice if there was a model. Left to their own devices, companies would not push benefication in any of its forms, or be inclined to come up with creative ideas of how to effect it, understandably so,its not their core business. While i have reservations like everyone else about competitiveness of local cutting and polishing, we all agree that there should a local industry. I also find the proposals or at least what is being discussed in the other Mmegi article you refer to rather interesting. It would not hurt to explore other pricing options for diamonds to see how they compare with the existing mechanisms and channels as one official hinted and possibly accelerate development of a commodity exchange, a first for Africa. Now if we need a test bed for any of these ideas, of all the places, Botswana is arguably the best bet Africa has.

Hey Beast Motshegwa -- You totally misrepresent what I said. In the post above, I said I fully support beneficiation, and think countries should get the most value for their resources; you seemed to ignore that part. But requiring sightholders to move their headquarters there ... I dunno. We have to take this step by step, was all my point was. Remember, diamond cutting has NOT worked everywhere it's been tried. It's just a fact. We all hope it works in Africa, but we really don't know yet. Anyway, I take it both posters above are from Botswana. Your voices are important ones that we don't always get to hear over here, and I hope you continue to weigh in. - Rob

The world has no place for pessimists like the author. As much as everyone is entitled to their opinions, his are bordering on arrogant. After mining diamond for over 40 years and being short changed the whole time, is it a lot to ask to persue a path of benefication, what does "people there are getting a little ahead of themselves supposed to mean". Technology exists,financial services are in place, highly internationaly educated motivated population is there. What is it that an african country has to do to get a piece of the pie baked in its ovens?. I guess headlines like "Diamonds account for 35% of India-British trade" at Economics Times India,10 Jul, 2008 are music to your ears, while both of those countries do not operate a single diamod mine. This has to change. I repeat what arrogance..

There is no such thing as Botswanan! Its Botswana's Newspaper. This is the first step of benefication and the goverments in Africa should be looking at more ways of creating big diamond markets in countries like Botswana. If it can be done India, Israel why can't it be done in Botswana.