New diamond cutting firm opens shop
Brian Benza | Tuesday September 1, 2015 15:45
With a staff compliment of 90, KGK will cut and polish diamonds worth an average $1.5 million every month.
Officially opening KGK’s factory, which is situated at Gaborone’s Diamond Technology Park, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila said the opening of the factory bears testimony of the strong long-term fundamentals of the diamond industry.
“Since the fourth quarter of 2014, we have lost two of our oldest diamond factories in Botswana, while over a thousand jobs have been lost. So during these hard times, it is refreshing to have such good news.
The opening of the new factory is a sign of the confidence that the company has placed in Botswana as an investment destination. It also gives us confidence that things will turnaround,” he said.
The company becomes De Beers’ 22nd local sightholder, replacing Teemane, which closed shop early this year.
KGK Group chairman, Navrattan Kothari said they have brought the latest technology in diamond cutting and polishing to Botswana as they have full confidence in the potential of the country. “We plan to increase our staff complement from 90 to 150 in the next year. The current turmoil in the diamond industry is a temporary phase, which will pass soon.
That is why we need to invest for the future,” he said. Due to depressed polished prices set against high rough prices, cutting and polishing companies globally are currently facing difficulties with the local industry’s situation exacerbated by the comparatively higher labour costs. At its peak, the local cutting and polishing industry employed about 3,700 workers. Companies that have recently retrenched include Moti Ganz (100), Leo Schachter (100), Eurostar (100), Shrenuj (90) Safdico (30), Zebra (50), Dalumni, Tiffany’s (50), while Teemane (400) and DMB closed shop.
The KGK diamond and jewelry group, whose core business is the manufacturing of polished diamonds and jewellery as well as retailing, is listed on De Beers website as a company operating in 14 countries over four continents, with over 100 years experience in the diamond industry.