First Mining Drc-Zambia Sep/Oct 2017 FMDRC-Zambia Sep Oct | Page 21

Zimbabwean government does not give out care. In addition, part of the money from up other branches of industry as well, Ricardo
precise information about how much diamonds diamond mining is put towards improving the Soares de Oliveira, an Africa expert at Oxford
contribute to its revenue.
"Billions have vanished before ever reaching the
road, telephone and internet networks. University, told DW in an interview: "en it
Now all Botswana has to do is successfully can be guaranteed that even more money will
invest pro ts from diamond mining in building remain in the country in future."
Zimbabwean Treasury," the current report by
the British anti-corruption group Global
Witness states. e diamonds, it says, have not
bene ted ordinary people. On the contrary:
According to this report, the country's secret
service and military have siphoned off a
signi cant portion of the revenue for
themselves, and have used it to nance their
activities. "Zimbabwe's democracy has been
undermined and it has led to serious human
rights abuses," says Michael Gibb, who
submitted the report for Global Witness.
Similar structures to those in Zimbabwe are also
to be found in other big diamond countries in
Africa. Diamond deposits have also led to more
poverty, violence and oppression in Angola or
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Botswana: More transparency, more added
value
ings are different in Botswana. e biggest
diamond producer in Africa is regarded as a
model in many respects when it comes to
channeling pro ts from the export of raw
materials back into society. 75 percent of the
country's foreign exchange revenue comes from
the sale of rough diamonds.
Botswana seems to have learned from the
negative examples in Africa. It tries to keep the
value added chain in the country for as long as
possible. A large quantity of the rough
diamonds are processed – divided, cut,
polished, drilled – in Botswana itself. Until just
a few years ago, this was done in, for example,
the Belgian city of Antwerp, or in Israel. is is
still the case with other African diamond
producers.
Using diamond money to improve the
economy overall
Unlike almost all the other countries in Africa,
Botswana has dealt carefully with its riches. e
government affords itself social programs that
its African neighbors regard with envy. ese
include free school education and free health
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