Staying true to the promise he made to his country several weeks prior, President Robert Mugabe made sure a number of foreign diamond mining companies ceased operations in the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe and vacated the land on the country’s eastern region.
Under the orders of Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines, the companies were given 90 days to remove their equipment and vacate the land. They had been informed that their licenses had expired some time beforehand and that they no longer had any legal rights to operate there.
Although Mugabe is in the process of nationalizing Zimbabwe’s diamond industry, his recent self-determining efforts have caused some foreign observers to complain and stand in opposition to him.
Even with the Westerners constantly attempting to impose their views and policies, Mugabe hasn’t budged as he implements his vision of a colonial-free country.
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co. is supposed to take over the recently vacated mines. The new state-owned company will be responsible for excavating, and then commercializing all future diamonds in the country, making the business more centralized.
Zimbabwe is still recognized as one of the world’s largest diamond producers, even though last year there was a significant drop in the market. In 2015 Zimbabwe’s government received approximately $60 million less from diamond miners, via royalties and other fees, than it had in 2014.
In prior years, the diamond industry was a primary source of income for the African country, and the recent decline caused many to be pessimistic about their country’s future, especially because its economy has been on a continuous slide.
Some analysts say that they understand all too well that Arab and European imperialism has had a stranglehold on many of Africa’s natural resources and that their refusal to equally share the riches gained from their exploitation is one of the largest problems the Motherland faces today.
