Small Botswana Diamond Factories Hold Onto Business in ‘Yo-Yo Market’

Written by Makula Dunbar

http://youtu.be/EBHRAO4unc4

New — and bigger — diamond factories that are popping up across Botswana have some entities worried about losing workers and market share, an “Africa: Open for Business” documentary showcased. However, for such a small country, the increased population by larger corporations can be a good thing Willie Conradie, production manager at Schachter & Namdar Ltd. said of his small diamond factory.

“This factory wasn’t productive at all at that time,” Conradie said of Schachter & Namadar, which set up shop in Botswana in 1998. “We started training people, now we’ve got 271 people working here. We do approximately 300 polished stones a day — almost 2,000 karats a month.”

A strategy to holding onto employees, the company offers tea and bread breaks, three months maternity leave, advanced unemployment warnings and assured best company practices through certificates which condemn conflict diamonds.

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