Zimbabwe Rakes in US$700m from Diamonds

Harare: Zimbabwe sold diamonds worth US$700 million last year, but foreign currency shortages persist, while a huge financing gap has left public amenities such as hospitals on the brink of collapse.

A diamond industry tracking survey, said global diamond production recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, with Zimbabwe earning US$670 from the gems.

Global rough output rose 51% year-on-year to US$13,99 billion, exceeding 2019's total of US$13,57 billion, according to statistics the Kimberley Process released this week. By volume, production increased 12% to 120 million carats, but trailed the 2019 figure of 138,1 million carats.

The numbers reflect significant growth in Angola and Zimbabwe, two countries that are developing their mining industry at high speed. In 2019, Angola's production rose 28% to US$1,63 billion, while Zimbabwe's jumped almost fivefold to $670 million. That helped offset the loss of goods from Australia, where production slumped to zero following the 2020 closure of Argyle, previously the world's biggest source of diamonds by volume.

The diamond trade was led by State-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), formed in 2015 and has perennially been embroiled in allegations of poor accountability and lack of transparency since then.