The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE is committed to the value addition of its diamonds to ensure that its citizens can fully benefit from the gems, President Mnangagwa has said.
Speaking at the 8th ordinary meeting of the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) Committee of Experts and Council of Ministers in Victoria Falls on Thursday, the President also challenged African countries to prioritise value addition and beneficiation of their precious minerals.
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe as the current chair of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is determined to effectively coordinate the work of the secretariat of (ADPA) to ensure that member states are empowered to play a more significant role in the diamond value chain.
“On your part as diamond-producing countries, you are challenged to prioritise and scale up value addition and beneficiation going into the future,” he said.
“Deliberate policies aimed at broadening beneficiation in the mining sector, in general, must be facilitated, towards realising maximum benefits from our continent’s rich natural resource endowment.”
The President said the youth and women should not be mere spectators but active participants in the diamond value chain.
“To date, Zimbabwe is strengthening capabilities in the diamond sector with the recent establishment of a Gemmology Centre,” he said.
“Innovative strategies by mining houses should be deployed to improve the welfare of employees, local communities and society at large.”
ADPA was formed in 2006, as a continental branch of the African Diamond Council.
It comprises 13 member states which include Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe.
