Diamond Conference Concludes in Controversy

The two-day Antwerp 2007 Diamond Conference ended Tuesday, with an agreement that beneficiation in Africa is a positive initiative, yet one that needs to make economic sense.

Nothing underscored this more than the speech given by Alrosa President Sergey Vybornov and discussion that followed. Alrosa’s own plants, Vybornov said, had not been economical, despite the advantage of receiving supplies directly from their parent company. “We have stopped any form of subsidy in Russia. Only the market can decide,” he said.

He advised African states to not repeat the same mistakes, while explaining that these operations need investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, but that the large diamond financing banks do not have a presence in Africa. “If plants are set up, the focus should be on economic viability, and populist measures must be rejected,” he argued.

In response, South Africa’s Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica asked if Russia is willing to supply rough to beneficiating factories. Vybornov replied that Russia would be prepared to supply South African factories. “All I suggest is that we let the market decide,” he said.

Sonjica, who also spoke on the second day of the conference, described beneficiation as a break with the past – one in which Africa’s resources were sold without adding value to the producer states. “For so long, African countries did not receive a fair price for their resources. We must create cutting and polishing plants so that we can have sustainable development. We do not want hand-outs, we want investors,” she said.

Some 500 members of the industry, government officials and bankers attended the conference.