An interview with Farai Maguwu, the director of the Center for Research and Development (CRD).

Could you explain who currently controls the diamond industry in Zimbabwe? How is this source of wealth likely to factor into the upcoming national elections?

The official view is that all mining is done through joint-venture partnerships between the Zimbabwean government and private enterprises. However, in practice there are several private companies involved in mining activities in the Marange diamond field. For instance, the deputy mines minister recently revealed that Anjin Investments, which is by far the biggest diamond mining company in Marange, is controlled 50 percent by the Chinese, 40 percent by the Zimbabwe National Army through its subsidiary company Zimbabwe Defense Industries (ZDI), and 10 percent by another company linked to the army. This militarization of the extractive sector in Zimbabwe, where the generals have become company directors and shareholders on behalf of the government, is extremely worrying.

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This entry was posted on July 25th, 2012 at 12:26 pm by Bev Clark and is filed under Economy, Governance, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.