The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has identified the qualities of blockchain to help in providing more transparency and traceability in the diamond supply chain.
Speaking at ‘The Facets 2023’ conference held in Botswana, Masisi identified that blockchain can help show that diamonds sold have been sourced ethically. In particular, he noted that blockchain’s decentralized ledger can help convince consumers that the diamonds they purchase come from morally correct sources.
🇧🇼 BOTSWANA | 2023
"Blockchain technology, with its immutable ledger, can provide consumers with the guarantee that their #diamonds have been ethically sourced." – President of Botswana #TheFacets2023 pic.twitter.com/LSsTbflnhC
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 30, 2023
Botswana’s diamond mining industry, the second largest in the world, has faced criticism in the past over human rights violations, exploitation and environmental harm. Some conflicts in Africa have also allegedly been financed by the diamond trade.
African countries dominate the production of uncut diamonds and dominate the top 10 list of producers based on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme:
- Russia
- Botswana
- Canada
- DR Congo
- South Africa
- Angola
- Zimbabwe
- Namibia
- Sierra Leone
- Lesotho
“Transparency and traceability are vital components in the assurances that we, as diamond-producing countries, must provide to our global customers. Blockchain technology, with its immutable ledger, can provide consumers with the guarantee that their diamonds have been ethically sourced,” Masisi said.
Botswana is leading efforts to exploit the ability of blockchain to cleanse the critical mining industry. This is epitomized by the country’s relationship with De Beers, a global leader in diamond mining that has pioneered the use of blockchain to track the diamond supply chain.
De Beers is said to hold majority ownership interest in Botswana’s diamond reserves. Its platform, Tracr, is recognized as the world’s first fully distributed diamond blockchain platform that starts at the source and operates at scale. According to Beers, Tracr has registered more than one million rough diamonds at source and 110,000 diamonds at the manufacturer level securely on their dedicated Tracr instances.
Tracr, which brings together a range of leading technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and advanced security and privacy technologies, was made available to the wider diamond sector in June 2023.
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