History and Popularity of Diamonds in Africa

The history and popularity of diamonds in Africa all began in 1866 when the first diamond was found along the banks of the Orange River. In the next fifteen years, Africa became the leading supplier of diamonds in the world, exporting more than nations such as India and Brazil. The discovery of these highly valued and highly demanded diamonds brought an immense amount of trade into Africa, a continent known for its poverty. One diamond company in particular, De Beers, instantly became interested in African diamond mines. By 1888, the company controlled the entire market, connecting African diamonds to wealthy humans all over the world. In 1929, De Beers began marketing diamonds to the middle class as well and associated the diamond with engagement and marriage, increasing the demand of the diamond worldwide. Though the company felt they had a hold on the market, they were wrong. Soon Lebanese traders discovered the enormous profit they could make by smuggling diamonds out of the country. As a result illicit mining and trading increased throughout countries in Africa and especially in Sierra Leone. To make matters worse, the government seemed to overlook the problem, if not sometimes encourage it. One Sierra Leone leader, Siaka Stevens, encouraged illicit trading to gain more control over the diamond mines. Succeeding leaders did the same, and with a corrupt government, the country of Sierra Leone was very vulnerable for a rebellion. Instead of bringing the continent of Africa out of its years of poverty stricken hardship, the discovery of diamonds in Africa only brought more of a curse as it fueled civil war, created political instability between governments, and caused unimaginable human suffering for African citizens.
The govern...

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...t that their sons were child soldiers holding guns and striking down innocent civilians. The horrors and violence that occurred during this ten-year period are unthinkable. Many families are still rebuilding more than ten years later. For a resource that was supposed to bring Sierra Leone out of poverty to leave it in even worse conditions is sad to think about. Though diamonds from conflict areas are banned, some still find their way into the markets. It is up to the buyers of these products to really trace the history of each and every diamond for a stop in this conflict to happen. Consumers can also help by asking for the history of their diamond before buying one. If the world can do this, profit made from diamonds will be going to the right people and the responsibility of violence in conflict areas will no longer be on the diamond industry or the world.