Diamonds and hypocrites

Big words, we were given full speeches last week at the rostrum of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations; from Joe Biden, accusing Russia of “trying to erase a sovereign state from the map of the world” (Ukraine, of course) to Emmanuel Macron, limiting current geopolitics to “a simple choice: that of war or Peace “.

Smaller countries, in a less dramatic way, have also marked the blow and forced the Western countries, the Europeans in particular, to face their contradictions. Botswana is one of them.

In a much less fiery speech than those of his counterparts in rich countries, President Mokgweetsi Masisi made a plea in favor of new foreign investments, in order to diversify his country’s economy.

Marilyn Monroe was singing Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but flirting stimulates Botswana just as much. Diamond mines bring in more than a third of Gaborone’s government revenue, a fortune that President Masisi has no intention of giving up, despite his desire to vary the country’s wealth a little.

GET UP FROM MISERY

The diamond industry is at the heart of the “success story” that is Botswana. In 1966, the year of its independence, the former British colony – one of the poorest territories in the world – had, according to economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, only twelve kilometers of paved roads, one hundred secondary and twenty-two university.

Today, considered a model of democracy, Botswana can boast of being one of only six countries in the past fifty years to have eluded the official UN classification of least developed nations. .

A CLEAN, CLEAN DIAMOND

Thursday, during a “Diamond Gala”, organized on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Masisi showed that this enrichment can continue without sacrificing its principles.

He promoted a new partnership with HB Antwerp, a Belgian diamond producer, which could revolutionize the transparency of an industry notorious for its opacity.

Using “blockchain” technology, HB Antwerp expects to be able to show the precise origin of a diamond, per square meter, in order to prove to consumers that their purchase is not a “conflict diamond”, these “blood diamonds” which feverish wars in Africa each more cruel than the other.

SNEAKY, THESE BELGIANS

There are, however, “blood diamonds” that some refuse to name these days. Belgian diplomats, according to the respected online site POLITICO, managed behind the scenes to prevent the ax of sanctions against Moscow from falling on the Russian diamond industry.

For centuries, Belgium has profited from this industry: more than half of all the rough diamonds in the world are cut in Antwerp. And precisely, one in three rough diamonds comes from Russia, the US Treasury Department estimating that they brought in more than 4.5 billion dollars to the country.

With this savage war that the Kremlin continues to wage against the Ukrainians, aren’t we getting our hands dirty with these “conflict diamonds”? Especially since the alternative exists; talk to Batswana!