In 2013 we wrote: Robert Mugabe: the missing diamond revenues and the election. Four years have past and nothing much has changed: Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader, is, since 1987, President of Zimbabwe at 93 years old, and diamond trade is still one of the biggest issue in the country.
A new report from Global Witness highlights risks of doing business in country’s mining sector:
Since the discovery of a huge source of diamonds in Marange in 2006 Global Witness has expressed numerous concerns about the sector, not least the veil of secrecy which shrouds it and facilitates powerful elites, army, and security forces to operate without scrutiny and exploit the diamonds.
Mismanagement of such a precious natural resource is particularly disappointing given that Zimbabwe is currently in the midst of an economic crisis. Almost three quarters of the population live beneath the poverty line on less than US$1.5 a day. Instead of playing a key role in Zimbabwe’s development, the potentially multi-billion dollar industry has failed to deliver on its early promise.
Global Witness underlines an important rule when dealing with the Zimbabwean diamond industry:
As a basic measure to guard against this kind of risk, any aspiring private investors should conduct checks, known as due diligence, on potential business partners and broader governance of the sector they are proposing to enter into. Where there are warning signs, investors should give serious thought to whether and how these risks can be mitigated before progressing their interests.
The latest happenings in Zimbabwe make a clear case for carrying out due diligence, both for investors and those trading in natural resources. Chinese investors considering potential opportunities need to conduct such checks if they are to make informed choices about their business conduct, not only to avoid being linked to human rights abuses, but also from the point of view of their own business interests.
You can read the full report published by Global Witness on September 2017 here. It starts with an interview of Robert Mugabe saying: ‘We have not received much from the diamond industry at all‘. Accusing private companies of having ‘robbed’ Zimbabwe of its diamond money, is a way to exonerate Mugabe and his inner circle of recurring accusations of corruption…
