The Zimbabwe Diamond Conference took off on November 6, 2014 at The Rainbow Towers Hotel & Conference Centre in Harare. The convention saw an increase in number of delegates in comparison to its first edition, held in 2012.

A large number of leaders of the gems and jewellery associations of the world graced the occasion to extend their support to the Zimbabwean diamond industry. Peter Meeus of Dubai Diamond Exchange, Eli Izhakoff, Ari Epstein of AWDC, Ahmed Bin Sulayen of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Ernest Blom of WFDB, Gaetano Cavalieri of CIBJO along with Walter K. Chidakwa, Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe and Prof. Francis Gudyanga, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Mines and Mining Development amongst other dignitaries presided over the opening function.

Walter K. Chidakwa, Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe presented a highly dynamic speech that received a thunderous applause. He stated, “The diamond mining in Zimbabwe is a huge driving force for the economy. It employs 45,000 people and has a $ 3 billion contribution to the GDP. The diamonds contribute 45 per cent of the total exports from Zimbabwe. But to fuel more growth much more needs to be done. The Marange diamond field has the largest diamond alluvial source in the world. To tap the full potential, increased exploration is needed. Zimbabwe is still unexplored and we must know the value of these deposits, which are our unmined assets. This is our top priority right now. But just mining is not enough. We need to cut and polish diamonds in Zimbabwe to fuel industrialisation. We have produced minerals to develop the industrialisation of other nations at the cost of our own. But, we want to grow now. We want to have employment opportunities, skill development, and value addition to empower the middle income class. We want to have a fully integrated diamond business including mining, manufacturing, polishing and international marketing. We have kept 1.25 million carats for local cutters and polishers, which presents a huge opportunity. We are also in discussion of reducing/eliminating VAT for local cutters and polishers. But, industrialisation has a cost. Investments are sought to increase the technology, infrastructure, technical know-how, etc. We have all the raw materials and resources needed but we need international partners to gain the expertise."

The minister in an exclusive to Diamond World shared, "We are looking at India to have the technical expertise. You give us expertise, we give you rough diamonds. We need to train Zimbabweans to be employed in this sector. I had a word with former ambassador regarding this and he has given me a list of Indian companies to deliberate and approach. I wish to visit Surat, hopefully by early next year to take this ahead."

President Grace Mugabe officiated the convention and declared it open albeit a little late (4 pm) due to his prior commitments.

Many more enthralling speeches and presentations were made by global industry leaders and African ministries of mining to make the first day a highly dynamic.

Watch this space to know about tomorrow's happenings.