Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S diamond industry is facing an existential threat from laboratory-grown synthetic diamonds, which have caused a sharp decline in global prices for natural stones, a senior official has warned.
Mr Ernest Denhere, deputy chief investment officer of the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), said the structural market shift posed unprecedented challenges for the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which is among the State-owned enterprises under the sovereign wealth fund. He was speaking on Friday during a tour of ZCDC’s operations at Chiadzwa by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
“The company is navigating one of the most challenging periods in its history, shaped by geological constraints, a global diamond market upheaval and operational headwinds that demand urgent strategic attention,” Mr Denhere said.
He described the disruption caused by lab-grown diamonds as “seismic”, adding that it was not a passing trend.
“At their peak, lab-grown diamonds have captured approximately 15 percent of the rough diamond market. Mass production in India and China has exerted significant downward pressure on prices for synthetic stones,” Mr Denhere said.
The proliferation of affordable synthetics, he noted, had fundamentally reset consumer price expectations for both lab-grown and natural diamonds.
Global diamond prices have declined by about 40 percent over the past two years. Major producers, including De Beers, have cut production by 20 percent in response.
“Most recently, I have been reading about another diamond mine in South Africa, Epaca, with a 158-year history, that is going into liquidation. Closer to home, diamond miners locally and in the region have been scaling down or suspending operations, either in care and maintenance or indeed in corporate rescue, to navigate this turbulent environment,” Mr Denhere said. He warned that Zimbabwe’s challenges were more acute than those facing other producers.
According to Mr Denhere, Zimbabwe’s diamond extraction grew by 8 percent in volume in 2024, yet the total value of exports declined by 46 percent year-on-year to approximately US$164 million.
The average price per carat fell to just US$31, the lowest among major global producers, and less than half the US$62 per carat achieved in 2023.
In the first half of 2025, export volumes fell a further 60 percent to 2,7 million carats compared with the same period in 2024, he added.
ZCDC is among several State-owned entities under the MIF, which manages the country’s sovereign wealth portfolio. The company now faces urgent pressure to adapt its strategy as the global diamond market undergoes a lasting structural transformation.
