West Africa: Ebola Outbreak Dulls Diamond Industry

Sep 7, 2014 | Melvyn Reggie Thomas, Tmes of India
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SURAT: The  Ebola outbreak has started casting a shadow over the  diamond industry as diamantaires have stopped sourcing rough diamonds from West African countries. Africa accounts for 50% of the global production of diamonds that is pegged at $14 billion.

Sources said that Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal produce more than $1.5 billion worth of rough diamonds per annum and are frequently visited by Surat's diamantaires for direct sourcing of diamonds.

With some 1,400 people dying from the deadly hemorrhagic virus in West Africa, the diamantaires have halted their visits for the past couple of months. This has badly hit revenues in West Africa.