World gem buyers to flood Zim

Lovemore Chikova in ANTWERP, Belgium
WORLD diamond buyers are set to flood Zimbabwe for trade in the wake of the removal of sanctions on the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and its joint venture partners in the Chiadzwa diamond fields. Indications from buyers here are that Zimbabwe will establish the biggest diamond trading hub owing to huge demand for the Marange gems in the wake of the spectacular collapse of the anti-Zimbabwe lobby which tried to sprinkle non-existent blood on the gems.

The trading hub would have enough back-up given that the Chiadzwa fields hold nearly 30 percent of global reserves.
Secretary for Mines and Mining Development Professor Francis Gudyanga yesterday said concerned Government ministries were already looking into the modalities of setting up the diamond trading market.

Prof Gudyanga, who is leading a high-powered delegation in discussions with Antwerp World Diamond Council officials on the marketing of the gems, was speaking to Zimbabwean journalists here.

“We want to engage AWDC to be mentored so that we have our own diamond trade centre in Zimbabwe that will attract buyers from all over the world,” he said.

“It is a matter that is on the planning stage and its being discussed at the ministerial levels.
“We want them (AWDC) to impart skills on the cleaning, polishing and marketing of the diamonds. We believe that with the partnership, we will have a vibrant diamond centre in Zimbabwe with many jobs being created out of that.”

Prof Gudyanga said with between 25 percent and 30 percent of world diamond reserves being found in Zimbabwe, prospects of the new trading centre failing were zero.

“It is something that we will introduce,” he said.
“It will take the establishing of security and the structure, but it will have all things concerned with diamond auction and marketing.”

If the diamond trade centre is eventually established, it would compete with major centres like Antwerp, New York, Mumbai in India and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Other diamond trading centres, although bringing low business, are found in Israel, Japan, China and Russia.
Zimbabwe’s diamonds are already being sought after on the world market and this means that the diamond trading centre would not be short of traders.

Prof Gudyanga said the Zimbabwean delegation made up of officials from Government, the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, was in Antwerp to study the trends in the world market of diamonds.
He said in the interim, Zimbabwe would want to sell its gems through Antwerp and a trial sale would be held soon.

The sale of local gems through Antwerp would ensure that their value would rise since they would be exposed to more than 2 000 buyers.
“We want to go back home after identifying agencies that can assist in the marketing of our diamonds with the help of the Antwerp World Diamond Council,” said Prof Gudyanga.

“We will arrange an appropriate trial sale at Antwerp on a date to be determined.
“The main thing is that we have started a dialogue with the AWDC. The dialogue started in Zimbabwe (when AWDC officials visited two weeks ago) and this is going to continue.”

Prof Gudyanga said AWDC officials were of the opinion that Zimbabwe’s gems were fetching far less than they deserved given their quality.

The delegation, which would be here for a week, is expected to tour the Antwerp Trading Centre and be appraised on all the processes that take place with the auctioning of the diamonds.

A number of meetings are also lined up with the AWDC officials to pave the way for the selling of Zimbabweans diamonds at Antwerp.
Trading of diamonds from Zimbabwe on the world market had been stalled by illegal sanctions regime imposed on ZMDC and its subsidiaries by the European Union at the instigation of Britain.

The sanctions were lifted after Belgium joined Zimbabwe in opposing them, leaving the EU with no choice, but to rescind its unreasonable decision and in so-doing broke London’s influence on the 27-member bloc.

ZMDC is a state enterprise in partnerships with five diamond mining companies in Marange, whose operations have all been certified by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a development that flies in the face of claims by some anti-Zimbabwe groups that the gems fell in the category of conflict diamonds.

ZMDC operates joint-venture mines in the Marange diamond fields and produced a combined eight million carats of the gems last year and generated US$684,5 million in exports.

Of the US$684,5 million, Mbada Diamonds contributed US$308,3 million, followed by Anjin with US$209,9 million. Diamond Mining Corporation contributed US$100,8 million and Marange Resources US$236 317.

The meetings held by Zimbabwean officials and those from AWDC in Harare two weeks ago focused on coming up with practical arrangements for the resumption of trade, mapping export procedures and regulations, arranging for the transportation of the diamonds between Zimbabwe and Antwerp and ways of stimulating trade flows in both directions.

It was the need to finalise on such concerns which has led the Zimbabweans to reciprocate the visit by coming to Antwerp.