4 September, 2025The diamond industry faces a deepening crisis, as highlighted by the IndustriALL Global Union diamond network’s meeting in Jwaneng, Botswana on 28-29 August. Several factors including a decline in natural diamond production, a surge in lab-grown diamond manufacturing and economic slowdowns in key markets have disrupted the sector’s stability.
Natural diamonds, formed over billions of years and prized for their scarcity, now compete with lab-grown alternatives that can be produced in large volumes within days or weeks. This structural shift threatens the economic foundations of diamond-dependent economies, particularly in Africa.
The Jwaneng meeting had 22 participants from IndustriALL-affiliated unions across Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, focused on strategies to engage diamond mining companies on workers’ rights and working conditions. Participants toured underground operations at Jwaneng, De Beers’s most profitable mine, which is operated by Debswana, a joint venture with the Botswana government. Yet even this flagship operation is not immune to the industry’s woes. Debswana is undergoing a restructuring that endangers 1,300 jobs, with over 650 workers already retrenched, reflecting the acute pressure from declining natural diamond sales amid competition from synthetics.
The meeting heard that in the cutting and polishing subsectors, the Botswana Diamond Workers Union is grappling with low wages, long dispute resolution processes, sexual harassment, workers’ rights violations and weak enforcement of labour laws.
The global diamond network is supporting the Luanda Accord, an initiative of the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) to boost consumer interest and demand for natural diamonds.
Governments and industry stakeholders signed the accord, but the network wants inclusion of trade unions as key stakeholders. The network has written to the NDC requesting a meeting to discuss union inclusion and the NDC has agreed to meet with unions.
Africa remains a cornerstone of global diamond production, with 15 countries — Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Congo, Zimbabwe, Guinea, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Tanzania and Togo — accounting for a significant share of output. Globally, Russia, Botswana, South Africa, Canada and Angola lead production.
Botswana has leveraged its high-quality gem diamonds to drive economic growth. However, the current downturn threatens the revenue from the diamonds.
Botshelo Kesebone, senior manager at Jwaneng argued that:
“Diamonds will last forever if they continue to empower workers, build nations and inspire sustainable futures. They will last forever if their brilliance is reflected not just in jewellery, but in the dignity and wellbeing of the people whose hands and hearts make their journey possible.”
Joseph Tsimako, president of the Botswana Mine Workers Union, emphasized the urgent need for economic diversification, advocating for investment in critical minerals and other priority sectors to mitigate the fallout from the diamond market’s decline.
“An investigation into other commodities, critical minerals and optimization of other priority economic sectors is needed to offset the economic deficit caused by the diamond sector sales slump,”
he said.
Masibulele Naki, National Union of Mineworkers, health and safety secretary and the global diamond network chairperson said:
“It is commendable that trade unions organizing workers in Botswana’s diamond industry are resilient in the face of job losses and the global diamond network will continue to provide support to protect workers’ rights and decent working conditions.”
Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining and diamonds said retrenchments are not the solution to the crisis facing the diamond industry.
“The diamond industry must not sacrifice jobs but must adapt its business model to the current realities which include lab grown diamonds.”