Zimbabwe unlikely to access money coming from its diamond industry: report

Following last week’s confession that Zimbabwe’s government’s public account went down to only $217, the country’s Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, warned Tuesday the “economy needs every resource it can get”.

But according to AllAfrica.com, accessing those resources may be way more difficult than imagined.

At Zimbabwe’s Diamond Conference last November, former South African president Thabo Mbeki voiced concerns that Zimbabwe’s diamond industry had fallen under the control of a “predatory elite”.

Mbeki was reportedly alluding to a widespread belief that the Marange diamond fields are under the clandestine control of Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) officials, the ruling party in Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980.

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