Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, does not have any ambition to integrate or associate herself with lab-grown diamonds.
This is the posture the Southern African nation has adopted, and wants consumers to come to terms with it. With this goal in mind, Botswana has taken the campaign a notch higher at the JCK diamond show in Las Vegas to let the world know that synthetics that were also marketed at the show, are not on the same level as natural and ethical diamonds that have earned Botswana a good fortune and name for years on end.
Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Bogolo Kenewendo expressed confidence in Botswana’s full-effort campaign to distinguish between natural diamonds and synthetics, noting that it had already started to bear fruit.
She said in an interview on the eve of the commencement of the JCK diamond show, the largest such show across the globe, that Botswana was happy that lately, entities such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA ), which placed great emphasis on transparency and consumer protection resolved to grade the natural diamonds and synthetics separately and differently.
She noted, “De Beers has recently also announced that they will be closing Lightbox, where they had been producing lab-grown diamonds for jewellery. Synthetics belong at the bottom of the drill and on our computers or entry-level jewellery and not at the same level as natural diamonds. Natural diamonds, which are a store of value of wealth and tell a good story of inter-generational investment, are superior in terms of their rarity, durability, and the emotional value they hold for the consumers.”
Despite the market slump, Minister Kenewendo remained positive that natural diamonds were in for a very long haul, with encouraging signs of resurgence. Had it not been for the US-imposed tariffs on diamonds in April, the minister was adamant that the market could have improved drastically.
Despite the challenges, she remained optimistic about the diamond market, noting its strong performance and the potential for further improvement as the global market showed signs of recovery in the diamond sector.
Ms Kenewendo also debunked the notion, especially among millennials and Gen-Zs, that natural diamonds could be overpriced. She stated that the natural gems were perfectly priced given their rarity, unlike synthetics that lose value over time.
Meanwhile, she relayed that President Duma Boko would soon make several pronouncements concerning tangible deliverables following the Botswana/De Beers deal, including in the areas of marketing, consumer education, tariffs, and the closure of the Lightbox by De Beers, among other positives.
Overall, Ms Kenewendo was pleased that Botswana had leveraged the JCK show to share Botswana diamond narrative with the world.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
