Lab-grown diamonds are robbing southern Africa of its riches

Botswana and southern African peers that built much of their prosperity on diamonds are scrambling for alternatives as cheaper, lab-grown stones threaten their economies, according to a report by pdclarion.com.

President Duma Boko has even mooted taking a majority stake in industry giant De Beers and selling Botswana’s diamonds independently.  Countries such as Angola, Namibia, and South Africa are all exposed, but not to the same degree as Botswana

The diamonds are the country’s main source of income and account for about 30 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) and 80 per cent of its exports, according to the International Monetary Fund. But, as consumers turn to cheaper diamonds created in China and India, the average price of a one-carat natural diamond is falling. The price dropped from a peak of $6,819 in May 2022 to $4,997 by December 2024.

In a bid to keep the sparkle alive, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo pledged in June to allocate one per cent of their annual diamond revenues to marketing natural diamonds.

For Botswana Ministry of Minerals official Jacob Thamage, natural and lab-made diamonds “offer different value propositions to different consumers and therefore can and will coexist”.

“We each have our target,” one jeweller said. “So long as everyone is happy.”