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African trade diamond
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Koehl Simmons
November 20, 2017
Economic Geography
The African Diamond Trade
Introduction
The African Diamond Trade is a large cycle of exploitation. An estimated 65% of diamonds mined worldwide originate in Africa (Cahill 2009). In 2016, the U.S. diamond industry grew 4% to reach $40 billion, approximately half of a global $80 billion industry (DeBeers Group 2017). But how do these diamonds make it from African river banks to American engagement rings? According to Time Magazine, there are 6 steps that take diamonds from the ground to the jewelry store; exploration, mining, sorting, cutting and polishing, manufacturing, and retailing (John and Jones 2015). Each of these steps adds value to the final product that is offered in jewelry stores worldwide but this value isn’t added fairly to those who create the most value.
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An estimated 1 million diamond miners in Africa earn less than $1 a dollar a day (Brilliant Earth n.d.) Children as young as 8 forgo school for daily wages ranging between $0.15- $0.60 (The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School 2009). According to Adele Farquhar, a man fighting for legal ownership of a diamond mine, the problem isn’t people mining for precious diamonds, it’s those buying the diamonds originating in conflict areas; "People think it's a Zimbabwe problem but they forget that there is huge international complicity. You can't stop the Zimbabweans until you stop the money men. The people in Zimbabwe are getting next to nothing for these diamonds. The guy with the pick and shovel is literally earning $5. The guy to go and find is the one making $1,000. Go and look at the money and see who else is benefiting. That's why there's no momentum to stop this thing” (Cahill 2009). According to Time, the owner of the mines usually takes around 70% of the value when diamonds are sold to
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
You’re browsing along various websites searching for a new piece of jewelry to add to your collection. Suddenly - you see it. The piece that screams your name. It’s an elaborate piece with large cut diamonds and you just know those can’t be real. But they look so real, so you check out the price.
Slaves and slave trade has been an important part of history for a very long time. In the years of the British thirteen colonies in North America, slaves and slave trade was a very important part of its development. It even carried on to almost 200 years of the United States history. The slave trade of the thirteen colonies was an important part of the colonies as well as Europe and Africa. In order to supply the thirteen colonies efficiently through trade, Europe developed the method of triangular trade. It is referred to as triangular trade because it consists of trade with Africa, the thirteen colonies, and England. These three areas are commonly called the trades “three legs.”
Final contribution of de beers to the diamond pipeline is the promotion of diamond jewelry for the industry; through advertising campaigns developed from extensive market research; trade promotional activities and jewelry design competitions
The central issue however, are the mining concessions granted the British South African Company (under Cecil Rhodes) by HM government and the subsequent encroachment and expropriation of native lands that is at the centre of today’s crisis.
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
Said to be a girl's best friend, diamonds are often seen as a symbol of poverty, war, and death for many Africans. Due to the cruel and inhuman manner by which these diamonds are mined and process, the trade of these illicit gems must be stopped. Conflict diamonds or blood diamonds are often associated with war, forced labor, child labor, and smuggling. Paul Orogun wrote an article for in the journal, World Affairs, where he describes some of the brutal conflicts in recent African history. “Blood Diamonds and Africa's Armed Conflicts in the Post—Cold War Era”, in which he talks about the conflicts associated with the illegal diamond trade. Orogun de...
...l the flow of conflict diamonds. Both assure consumers that more than 99% of rough stones today come from conflict-free sources which are regulated by the Kimberley process. According to the people who profited from diamonds, the blood diamonds problem is passé5. Further research tells us that it is not. According to Father Rocco Puopolo of the Africa Faith and Justice Network, he says “It’s not passé,” “the diamond industry can claim what they want and the film will always serve as a template for what is going on in Africa today.” This point out that labour exploitation and conflict (for control of precious resources such as gold) may still be going on in Africa.
The movie shows different villages in different scenarios, with rich natural colors like brown, green, red etc. The cities are portrayed as hectic and intimidating, dirty and poor. After watching the movie “Blood Diamond” Directed by Edward Zwick I realized that the main issue or problem in the movie was the blood diamonds. There are much more issues and problems in the movie but I believe this is the most important because the whole movie revolves around the blood diamonds. Blood diamonds were used in this movie and were the main focus of the movie. The reason for blood diamonds being the main economic issue or problem is because of the blood diamonds people were forced to work as slaves to find diamonds in the water so they can be used to buy guns. Blood diamonds were the cause of all of these terrible acts, people dying to search for these diamonds so they can be sold. Also the other issues of blood diamonds were that a big company was buying a lot of these conflict diamonds from Africa for really cheap, the company was Van Da Kaap. It would buy an abundance of these diamonds and store them so the diamonds they acquire seem rare and so they can stay at a high price. The economic issue with this was that the company Van Da Kaap would not tell anyone of these abundance of diamonds because than if they did tell anyone, the prices of the diamonds would fall and this is called supply and
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
iii. India dominates the world’s cut and polished diamonds (CPD) market. In value terms, the country accounts for approximately 55 percent of global polished diamond market and nearly 9 percent of the jewellery market. According to GJEPC's provisional estimate, cut and polished diamonds registered 19.06 percent growth in exports at US$ 7.11 mn.
...er’s diamond cartel, the world’s most powerful monopoly, no longer exists, the company itself is still a billion-dollar business. The demand for diamonds is still great and the supply scarce. Diamond engagement rings are no longer seen as the only accepted form of engagement rings; therefore people look to cheaper alternatives. Although substitutes for diamonds are increasing in popularity and diamonds are no longer seen as the only symbol of love, are still in high demand. The interdependence of firms in the oligopoly market structure stabilizes diamond prices and still allows for the firms’ profits to be maximized. De Beers and the Central Selling Organization monopoly managed to set the price of diamonds extremely high. Although the oligopoly market structure regulates diamond prices, in relation to the useful value of a diamond the price of diamonds is too high
The Economic Virtues of the Trans-Saharan Trade Through out history, trade has been an integral part of the economy of civilizations. This is especially true in Western Africa. Trade shaped the economic landscape of West Africa. However, there is one particular trade that affected West Africa the most. That trade was the trans-Saharan trade.
Gold mining in South Africa has a large impact on the environment, the economy and social structure in South Africa. The environmental impact of gold mining on the environment includes water, air and noise pollution. The mining industry in South Africa is one of the largest in the world. It provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of people in the mining industry alone. The mining industry also indirectly provides jobs for about 400 000 with the goods and services that the mines require to run successfully.
Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, is one of many civilizations of Africa. It was a British Colony until March 6, 1957, when it became independent as the State of Ghana. In 1471, the Portuguese invaded this area and became involved in gold trade, giving the region the name, The Gold Coast.