Sierra Leone still associated with conflict diamonds for supplying stones without the mandatory Kimb

Do you know that 'conflict diamond' trading is still rampant in Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, now a center for diamond cutting and polishing?

Where-are-the-majority-of-conflict-diamonds-found. (PhotoCredit: © 2018 newmedialisa.com)

You might think that there is no conflict in Sierra Leone at the moment and therefore it shouldn’t be under the radar. Despite huge regulatory efforts, the Business Today in India has reported that the country is still associated with illegal practices in diamond trade.

Between 1992 and 2002 the small resource-rich West African nation suffered from one of the worst civil wars in recent history, largely fuelled and sustained by blood or conflict diamonds.

That is certainly not the case. Any or all stones, smuggled from African countries such as Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and The Congo, are "conflict" diamonds without the mandatory Kimberly Process (KP) certificate. Therefore, these stones are offered at 30 per cent lower than the price charged for stones with KP certificates.

By the way, KP is an international governmental certification scheme set up in 2003 to prevent trade in diamonds that fund conflict.