Story by Owen Mandovha
The three-day Africa Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) interministerial meeting held in Harare last week, established a framework for diamond producers on the continent to comply with global standards and benefit from the precious mineral.
Zimbabwe took over the chairmanship of the association at the conference held in Victoria Falls last year.
The 21-member continental body last week convened hybrid meetings to take stock of milestones achieved so far in boosting the production and trade of the precious stones.
Mines and Mining Development Minister, Honourable Winston Chitando gave an overview of the key takeaways from the three-day engagement.
“It is imperative to note we have presided over this body as chair, which has given us huge experience and insights into the industry. We rallied all producers of the diamond that we have to continue to align our processes to global set standards so that production from the region is increased to benefit its own people,” he said.
Zimbabwe is making full use of its position at the helm of ADPA which comes to an end early next year.
“We are excited with the contribution we have made to global diamond discourse over the last two years as chair and this signals the success of Zimbabwe’s engagement and re-engagement policy,” he added.
Zimbabwe’s diamond production has been on an upward trend with output jumping from three million carats annually to the current six million carats.
Government has set sights on attaining 10 million carats annually to make Zimbabwe a US$3 billion industry.
