March 14, 2002
A Cache of 400,000 carats of diamonds appears to have vanished, but André Dorogo is not worried. It is an "annual inevitability", says the Central African Republic's affable minister of mines. The gems have not been stolen, merely laundered to wash off the blood. Officially, only 500,000 carats of jewel-quality diamonds were exported from the country in 2000. But Antwerp's diamond exchange alone records imports into Belgium of 900,000 carats from the CAR.
With its long, unpatrolled borders and chronic political instability, smugglers love the CAR. Some sneak local diamonds out, to avoid taxes. Others import stones from African war zones, mix them with local stones, and re-export them as CAR gems, to dodge a UN embargo. Dealers in Bangui, the capital, admit that the trade in "conflict diamonds" is booming.
Experienced buyers know at a glance where a bag of uncut stones originates. But once cut and polished, a diamond's provenance is difficult to determine, which is perhaps why, as one dealer puts it, "The UN embargo makes absolutely no difference." Since it began, the number of diamond-buying bureaus in Bangui has trebled. Dealers live and work in heavily-fortified villas, and communicate via satellite. They are a tough bunch. Minair, an airline used by diamond companies, continued to fly during an attempted coup last year, even as everyone else in Bangui took shelter from the whizzing bullets.
The trade does the country's reputation no good, so the government is proposing to clamp down. At present, licences to mine or trade in diamonds are handed out by the president, Ange-Félix Patassé. The system is slow, opaque and open to abuse. Under proposed new rules, the criteria for awarding licences would be clarified. Plans are also afoot to establish a certificate-of-origin system, which would make it harder to pass foreign gems off as local.
In the long term, the government says it wants modern, deep-shaft mines to replace the hordes of unlicensed, shirtless prospectors who dig up most of the country's gems. Formal mines are more efficient and easier to oversee, but require money and technology, of which the CAR has little. A team of investors arrived last year to scout for opportunities. Unfortunately, the coup erupted on the day they were supposed to meet their local contacts, and they were unable to leave their hotel.
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