Jewel of Africa sets eyes on more gems
largest jeweller, Jewel of Africa, has embarked on an ambitious programme that will enable it to accelerate the gemstone value chain.
The concept, dubbed ‘mine to you’, will enable the company to accelerate the mining of precious stones, jewellery manufacturing and retailing of the jewellery, thus helping to increase revenue earned from exports of finished products.
Zambia is rich in gemstones, which include emerald, amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, garnet, morganite, tourmaline, turquoise, ruby and sapphire, but their contribution to the treasury is negligible because they are exported in raw form through various auctions.
The minerals are also sold on the black market by illegal miners.
Jewel of Africa managing director Raj Sharma said the company, which is mining precious stones and does jewellery manufacturing and retailing, is expanding its business and will enable the country to get value from its gems.
The ‘mine to you’ concept will make Jewel of Africa the first company in the gemstone value chain in the world and accelerate its position on the continent and global market as a key player.
Dr Sharma said in an interview on Tuesday that the company, which produces about 10,000 pieces of jewellery annually with 75 percent beingexported to various parts of the world, is in talks with potential investors on the possibilities of partnering to expand the value chain.
“We want to partner with investors in the entire value chain which we are calling ‘mine to you’. The company wants to do everything under one roof, from mining the gems, cutting, polishing, [and] retailing it across the world. The ‘mine to you’ concept is important because we will carry the Zambian flag,” he said.
Dr Sharma said the company wants to partner with local investors to keep it Zambian.
“We want to keep it Zambianso that we are the national flag carrier because if we engage international investors, we will not have the ‘claim to firm’,”he said.
The company currently operates about six jewellery stores in Zambia and a sister company in the United States, which was created as a result of the trade agreement under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
source: Zambia daily mail
