How to unlock Africa's $20b gemstone, jewelry value chain

 How to unlock Africa's  $20b  gemstone, jewelry value chain 

By Peace Fawale 

Players in the precious and semi- stone industry have canvassed the need for African governments to remove the obstacles clogging the growth of the value chain, which could generate over $20 billion revenue for the continent.

The players said Africa's rich deposits of precious and semi - precious stones, which are highly sought after in the international market for the gemstone and jewelry industry, is not giving enough benefits to the people involved in its mining.

 The players identified the obstacles hindering the sector to include: lack of market knowledge , lack of expertise in  technically identifying the type of

gemstones they are producing and their value in the market. 

They listed other challenges to include : lack of skills in grading, cutting, and polishing these gemstones as part of the lingering obstacles.

The players said most of the artisanal miners  do not have the knowledge of

the supply chain , rather , they rely on brokers who exploit them to give them  valuation.

The players also said most miners do not trust that Africans have the skills and
expertise to cut and polish to their standards. 

They affirmed that the miners  prefer to buy rough gemstones from the brokers
and send them to their own gemmologists who have knowledge of the “European or American” cut.

They said : "  This disenfranchises the miners who would have realised greater incomes from selling value added gemstones. African countries lose out as well on the opportunity of having a thriving gemstones industry that could spawn or support other economic linkages, create jobs - especially for women and youth, as well as generate higher income from the exportation of value-added stones branded as originating from their countries.'

Meanwhile,  players have also identified ways to improve the sector include:address the supply chain issues by organising gem fairs or travelling to international fairs mainly in Asia to attract buyers. 

" Most countries in the continent have several occurrences of these often precious and semi-precious stones that are highly sought after in  the jewellery industry. Notable instances are Ethiopia’s Opals, Kenya’s Tsavorite, Madagascar and Sapphires, Mozambique’s rubies, Tanzania’s Tanzanite and Zambia’s Emeralds. Despite having 

deposits of these gemstones, and some of these deposits being exploited through artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) with a high level of women participation, the African countries that harbor them and the miners do not benefit from the high prices that gemstones fetch internationally.

"African countries lose out as well on the opportunity of having a thriving gemstones

industry that could spawn or support other economic linkages, create jobs - especially for women and youth, as well as generate higher income from the exportation of value-added stones branded as originating from their countries.
"The Africa Mining Vision (AMV), which was adopted by African Countries in 2009, is the blueprint for inclusive and sustainable development of the continent’s mineral resources sector to underpin broad based development. Among other things, the AMV requires local value-addition to minerals to maximize the impact of the mining sector in the social and economic transformation of African countries."

	15:59 (1 hour ago)