By ADAM
IHUCHA -- Tanzania’s four-years-old partial ban on export of raw Tanzanite seems
to have been ineffective to control a large chunk of gemstone from being shipped
to Asia.
In July, 2010, Tanzania, the world’s sole source of
Tanzanite, outlawed exports of rough stone weighing above one gram, in a bid to
compel the world’s gemstone dealers to spur development of local processing
industry.
The embargo was part of the Mining Act
of 2010, which intends to create massive employments for Tanzanians, recoup profits and thus
boosting the economy of scale through Tanzanite gemstone value addition.
But, four years now, statistics
show a
lion’s share of rough Tanzanite still finds its way to India, where it creates a multi-million-dollar business empire and thousands of
jobs.
Tanzania Mineral Dealers Association (TAMIDA) Chairman,
Sammy Mollel says that Tanzanite exported in raw form creates
250,000 jobs in Jaipur, India.
“Our
problem is implementation, but the rationally behind the rule was to make
Arusha an Africa’s gemstone
hub, where all gemstones would have been cut and polished for exports” Mr
Mollel explained.
Indeed, it has reliably learnt that nearly 99.5 percent of Tanzanite output is weighing
less a gram, implying that the state rushed to control exports of less than one
percent of production.
This means that 0.5 percent of Tanzanite output is currently
processed locally, creating merely 119 jobs, leaving as higher as 99.5 percent been
exported in
a raw form, generating 250,000 employments in Jaipur city of India.
Tanzanite exports
statistics from Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) indicate that from 2010 to
2013 the country exported a total of 21,171,460 grams both rough and cut
Tanzanite gemstone worth Tsh 132.43 billion or $83 million.
Of the
total figure 21,056,270 grams were rough Tanzanite equivalent to 99.45 percent worth
Tsh 85.70 billion or $54 million, compared to 115,160 grams of cut tanzanite, representing
0.54 percent valued at Tshs 46.73 billion or $29 million.
This
implies that the country where the rate of unemployment stands at 10.7 percent,
not only exports thousands of jobs, but also looses multi-million-dollars in earnings
to India where its rough gemstone is being processed.
In 2012,
Tanzania was home to more unemployed 15 to 24-year-olds per capita than 109
other countries.
In a survey
by the NGO known as Restless Development, out of over 1,000 young people across
Tanzania, only 14 percent reported working a formal, wage-earning job.
According to the World Bank each year,
900,000 young Tanzanians enter a job market that is generating only 50,000 to
60,000 new employment opportunities.
India’s Jaipur city cut and polishes over 95 per cent
of the tanzanite, a blue gemstone, said to be 1,000 times rarer than diamond,
produced in Tanzania, the only source for the gemstone.
The finished gemstones find their way to the US, which
remains the largest market for tanzanite, second in popularity only to
sapphire.
No wonder
the India’s Jaipur city in 2012 exported cut and polished tanzanite into the
world market worth $82 million, equivalent to what Tanzania, earned in four
years period.
This means
that the country could earn five times, from Tanzanite trade, if the gemstones were exported as finished products.
Globally,
tanzanite trade earns $500 million a year, with Tanzania, which is the only
source of the precious stone recording export revenues of $20.75 million
equivalent to 4.15 percent of trade value.
Deputy
Minister for Energy and Mineral, Stephen Masele says that unscrupulous local
master dealers are to blame for sabotaging the state initiative.
“The
government did what it takes to ensure Tanzanite gemstone benefits its people,
but some few local dishonest master dealers are conspiring with foreigners to
smuggle massive gemstone in raw form” Mr Masele noted.
He however
hinted that the state has deployed a special team in Arusha to assess the
situation, where it will meet all stakeholders and thereafter will advise what
should be done.
Total ban
Key
stakeholders and analysts say the state needs to impose a total ban on export
of the entire Tanzanite production, if the Tanzanians are to benefit full from
the gemstone trade.
A natural
resources law Lecturer at Tumaini Makumira University College Elifuraha
Laltaika says lack of enforcement can be linked to lack of capacity on the
part of the government, in terms of manpower and technology.
“However, this is unpleasant news and the
government should remedy it as a matter of urgency. There is no further we can
go, it is like cooking food using a leaking pot." Mr Laltaika says.
Dr. Dalaly Kafumu, a Tanzania’s
renowned geologist-cum-politician believes that for Tanzanians to reap full
benefits, the rule that created Tanzanite-rich Mererani hills near Arusha a
controlled area should be enforced.
Once enforced, the controlled territory
means that henceforth no one will be allowed to access Mererani mining area
without permission from the government.
All miners operating in Mererani mining
territory will have to be registered and issued with identity cards.
The state will also have to determine
the procedures, documentation and specific means to be used to establish a
traceable chain of documentation from dealer to the buyer.
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