‘How to unlock Africa’s $20b gemstone’

Players in the precious and semi- stone industry have canvassed the need for African governments to remove obstacles clogging the growth of the value chain, which could generate a minimum of not less  than $20 billion revenue for the continent.

The players said Africa’s rich deposits of precious and semi – precious stones, which are highly sought after in the international market for the gemstone and jewelry industry, is not giving enough benefits to the people involved in its mining.

Speaking yesterday at the African Gold Gemstone Jewelry Exhibition &  Conference in Lagos put together by the African Minerals Development Centre, an entity of the African Union and Women in Mining in Nigeria,  the players canvassed  closer collaboration in order to optimise the full benefits of the value chain.President and Founder of Women in Mining in Nigeria, Dr. Janet Adeyemi said if a proper framework is put in place by African governments, the mining sector could bring economic prosperity to countries on the continent because of the huge jobs it could generate.She said a lot needs to be done to deepen women participation to push for the growth and development of gemstone exploration, processing and pricing on the continent.Dr Adeyemi  said there is no need to attract diaspora funding into mining of precious stones in Africa as more financial institutions including EcoBank, Lotus Bank, FirstBank,  NEXIM Bank and UNIDO are backing efforts to develop the sector.

She said government needs to rethink its interventions to improve the lot of women by offering more empowerment programmes that will extract more benefits.

She said: “More women are engaged in mining activities in Nigeria as closer collaboration will drive the value chain.”

Also speaking, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mrs Adesuwa Don-Princewill said efforts are on to bring more women on board as key players in the precious metals value chain.

Also speaking, Programme Officer of Africa Minerals Development Centre, Mr Mkululi Ncube said efforts are underway by the African Union to develop a framework that will bring about a commodity exchange for infrastructure.

Also speaking at the conference, President of Association of Women in Mining in Africa, Balhine Pascaline Ongba said the  mining sector could do better if more women are empowered even as she called for the exchange of jewelry among African countries.

She called on governments on the continent to remove many laws that inhibit the trading of gemstones in Africa.She also decried the limited number of gemstone designers on the continent saying a pool of such professionals is needed to drive value for the sector.

The conference in Lagos brought together players in the gemstone and jewelry business across the continent with UNIDO organising a master class on steps to be taken to extract value from the sector.

Speaking at the event, Senior Investment and Technology expert , UNIDO ITPU Nigeria, Mr Collins Osagie Omokaro said the agency is partnering with players in the sector to drive more investment, attract more prosperity by deepening capacity building through policies, processing and pricing of precious stones.

A study by the African Union unit  identified the obstacles hindering the sector to include: lack of market knowledge , lack of expertise in  technically identifying the type of gemstones they are producing and their value in the market.

It listed other challenges to include : lack of skills in grading, cutting, and polishing these gemstones as part of the lingering obstacles.

But,  players said most of the artisanal miners  do not have the knowledge of the supply chain , rather , they rely on brokers who exploit them to give them  valuation.

The players also said most miners do not trust that Africans have the skills and expertise to cut and polish to their standards.

They affirmed that the miners  prefer to buy rough gemstones from the brokers and send them to their own gemologists who have knowledge of the “European or American” cut.

They said : “ This disenfranchises the miners who would have realised greater incomes from selling value added gemstones. African countries lose out as well on the opportunity of having a thriving gemstones industry that could spawn or support other economic linkages, create jobs – especially for women and youth, as well as generate higher income from the exportation of value-added stones branded as originating from their countries.”

Meanwhile, players have also identified ways to improve the sector include:address the supply chain issues by organising gem fairs or travelling to international fairs mainly in Asia to attract buyers.

“Most countries in the continent have several occurrences of these often precious and semi-precious stones that are highly sought after in  the jewellery industry. Notable instances are Ethiopia’s Opals, Kenya’s Tsavorite, Madagascar and Sapphires, Mozambique’s rubies, Tanzania’s Tanzanite and Zambia’s Emeralds. Despite having deposits of these gemstones, and some of these deposits being exploited through artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) with a high level of women participation, the African countries that harbor them and the miners do not benefit from the high prices that gemstones fetch internationally.

“African countries lose out as well on the opportunity of having a thriving gemstones industry that could spawn or support other economic linkages, create jobs – especially for women and youth, as well as generate higher income from the exportation of value-added stones branded as originating from their countries.