The Antwerp World Diamond Centre lived up to its promise that it can give Zimbabwe the best returns for its diamonds when the Dubai sales held last month failed to beat the Belgian centre. The Average price in Dubai was US$76 a carat while that at Antwerp was US$80.
Zimbabwe is now able to sell its diamonds freely in Belgium and Dubai following the lifting of sanctions buy the European Union which was under pressure from Belgium which felt it was losing out on Zimbabwe diamonds.
Zimbabwe is set to produce a quarter of the world’s diamonds according to predictions.
Zimbabwe sold 960 000 carats in Antwerp in February raising US$70 million and 381 000 carats in Dubai which fetched US$29.2 million.
Zimbabwe had been selling its diamonds through middlemen to beat the sanctions and was only able to realise an average of US$47 a carat.
The government is reported to have earned US$4.3 million from the Dubai sales.
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