Botswana's Economy Depends on Diamond Mining

The nation of Botswana use to be a country where people raised animals and scavenged to survive but that all changed in 1969. Based on the article “Africa’s Gems: Warfare’s Best Friend,” the government of Botswana made the country the according to the article “worlds fastest-growing economy.” The government

Introduction of diversified talents, skills and abilities which could significantly boost the host country’s economy.

problem at hand is the rising rate of unemployment. This problem must be dealt with

This elucidates the idea that black market trading rarely benefits the economic status but different corrupt organizations. Businesses should find a way to properly trade legal diamonds, while benefiting the country’s economic system. Although the natural resources in some parts of Africa are rich, the people are extremely poor. In other words, Richman also states, "The great irony of this, and what concerns the industry most, is that the item is being sold as a part of a romantic, everlasting, and pure relationship, but there are a lot of ugly shadows that have contributed to the industry 's success." Industries must end their contribution to the blood diamonds that fuel this nation’s civil wars.

During this semester I personally learned a lot more than I expected about Africa. While learning about numerous events after the slave trade I feel that the discovery of diamonds the most important event. It is said that diamonds were first discovered in Africa around 1866-1867 by a young boy on a farm near the Orange River. Since the first discovery of diamonds, diamonds have had a major impact on the continent of Africa in positive and negative ways which will be explained immediately.

terms of the economy, they provide a large supply of workers to be hired by businesses who are

Also, there needs to be a more defined definition of a blood diamond (“War on Blood Diamond Trade Loses its Lustre in Age of Digital”). The Central African Republic fails to realize that the diamonds being bought come from instances of executions, child labor, as well as looting (“Companies must Not Profit from Blood Diamonds”). Obviously, Africa is rich in minerals, which is its curse (Ainger et al.367: 9-27). Consequently, there has been 50 wars, fighting for control of resources. Political, social, and economical factors matter in these resource wars (Ainger, et al.367: 9-27). Recently, the Kimberly process fails to uphold in central Africa, Cameroon. As a result, Cameroon is flooding with conflict diamonds because of mediocre leadership along with corruption (“Conflict Diamonds from CAR Entering International Markets Via Cameroon”). This may be the effect after the African Republic was internationally embargoed in 2013 (“Conflict Diamonds from CAR Entering International Markets Via Cameroon”). Therefore, “As the Kimberley Process visits Cameroon, it must take action immediately and demonstrate to companies, retailers-and most importantly to consumers-that it is able to stop the flow of conflict diamonds," Offah Obale. Presently, the diamond industry is in a bit of a mix as the Kimberly process is expected to help countries receive clean diamonds in order to restore international market relationships ("War on Blood Diamond Trade Loses its Lustre in Age of Digital"). Now, it is known that the common life-span is estimated to be 34 years old in Africa, Sierra Leone. Also, “We have always maintained that the conflict is not about ideology, tribal or regional difference... The root of the conflict is and remains diamonds” says UN ambassador of Sierra Leone, Ibrahim Kamara. At the present time, there is a cease fire in the Republic of Congo since

The economic principals discussed in this article are mainly focused on the fact that until 2000, the diamond industry was a monopoly. A monopoly, as defined by our book, has one firm, a unique product, and the entry into the market is blocked. The owner of the diamond industry, Cecil Rhodes, created this by buying all the available diamond mines. He started in 1870’s by buying the mines found in South Africa. As time went on,

4. Read Annual Editions Article 4.1, "Africa's Hopeful Economies: The Sun Shines Bright", pp. 116-122, and Article 4.2, "Can Africa Turn from Recovery to Development?", pp. 122-127.

The government should play an active role in business development as public goods such as roads, railway, and national defense is not developed in the free market as there is not any fiscal incentive. Similarly, the free market does not consider positive externalities and social benefit programs for the betterment of society (Pettinger, 2012). Therefore, it is very important for the federal government to promote business development and protect consumers and employees.

In today’s world of global trading, multinational corporations that are looking to expand on profits turn out to operate against the welfares of the world’s poorest countries. In the documentary, “Stealing Africa,” the film director, Christoffer Guldbrandsen, brings forward the concerning economic attention of the country of Zambia, located in South Africa. Zambia is known as the third largest copper reserves across the world, owned by multinational corporations globally. Due to such a heavy abundance of natural resources in Africa, the majority of the economy of Zambia revolves around the mining industry, which is like the backbone of the country. As the natural resources in Zambia remain rich, multinational companies, specifically Glencore, grew in investments resulting in the guilt of tax avoidance and undervaluing copper, which resulted in a downfall for the revenue of copper in the nation of Zambia. Guldbrandsen talks about the country of Zambia’s abundance of natural resources, yet their struggle to remain above the poverty line, as it is ranked in the top 20 poorest countries. Guldbrandsen insists that due to privatization starting from the year of 2001, the mining industry in Zambia has taken a downfall. Although the country of Zambia is very rich in resources, maintains the top copper mine in the world, a person a day lives below a dollar and almost eighty percent of the population remains unemployed.

The superimposing factor that gives South Africa such an advantage over other prospective African business environments is that it possesses of a very powerful and sophisticated vantage-point geographically. South Africa is strategically located for manufacturing and exportation into several regions globally and can be an unmitigated platform for MNC’s who may be interested in a venture within this region. The important advantages include regional competitiveness, combined with reduced operational costs and a significantly prominent market access (Safrica.info, 2011).

The economic conditions prevailing in a country impact heavily on local businesses and organization. Depending on how well prepares an organization is prepared to handle the economic changes that occur, the organization can either thrive in business or collapse. There is more to this picture. An individual organization cannot shield itself enough against harsh economic tides. Thus, the government has to create checks and balances to bring about a stable and sustainable economic environment so as to spur a steady economic growth for local businesses and firms to thrive.

The Republic of Botswana is a country with a fairy tale success story. It began as an independent country that was one of the poorest in the world, and built itself up to be an African success story. It is a landlocked country, which most often means its fate is left in the hands of the surrounding countries. Botswana built a very successful diamond mining empire as well as a cattle industry, and has grown into a successful middle-income country.

The country is a key investor within the East African commmunity, while the largest chunk of intraregional trade is due to Kenya. However, economic