Tanzania urges African unity to defend natural diamond industry

Many ministers from diamond-producing nations gathered in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on May 20, 2026, to confront a challenge rapidly reshaping the global jewelry market: the rise of laboratory-grown diamonds.

At the center of the conversation stood Tanzania’s Deputy Minister of Mines, Dr. Steven Kiruswa, who delivered a passionate call for African solidarity in defense of the continent’s natural diamond industry.

“We are at a tipping point,” Dr. Kiruswa told delegates attending the Council of Ministers of the African Diamond Producing Member States (ADPA). “The proliferation of lab-made diamonds is eroding the value, credibility, and livelihoods tied to natural diamonds. If we do not act together, we risk undermining one of Africa’s most strategic natural resources.His remarks captured the mood of a meeting defined by both economic anxiety and strategic determination.

Dr. Kiruswa urged African producers to adopt a unified continental strategy centered on three major priorities: strengthening international certification standards, launching coordinated marketing campaigns to highlight the unique origin and heritage of natural diamonds, and expanding local value addition through cutting, polishing, and jewelry manufacturing within Africa.