- Employed 140 citizens and plans to increase to 500 in the next five years
- 210 Botswana trained at no cost through the Stargems Diamond Training Centre
Within just a year of commencement, Stargems Group, a Dubai-based diamond manufacturing company has reached noteworthy milestones.
These accomplishments encompass the establishment of a Botswana unit equipped with cutting-edge machinery, the employment of over 140 citizens, and the operation of a Diamond Training Centre that has provided training to over 200 Batswana.
Attributing the resounding success of Stargems Botswana in the local market to the Ministry of Minerals & Energy, the company says it is proud of the progress and impact it has made.
“Instead of complaining about a shortage of high-impact skills in the diamond sector, we opened Stargems Diamond Training Centre in Botswana with an internationally recognized partner in Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School. We employ over 140 citizens. All this could not have been possible without Lefoko Moagi’s dedication to ensuring our operations are set up to create value for the economy and human capital development. The Ministry ensured that our full potential was unleashed to stimulate citizen empowerment,” Sandeep Kolambekar, Stargems Global Head of Manufacturing elaborated.
He said over the years Botswana has been one of the largest diamond producers in the world with the country’s diamond production amounting to nearly 23 million carats in 2021, which represented an increase of some 26 percent from the previous year.
“This motivated us to set foot in Botswana and establish operations. We were attracted by the quality of the precious stones and political stability. Botswana has over the years consistently ranked highly on economic and development indicators,” Kolambekar said.
Stargems Botswana mainly focuses on manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, and auctioning diamonds and jewelry. It has previously set up operations in New York, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Johannesburg. The unit was set up to source and manufacture rough diamonds, with the company currently sourcing from DeBeers, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) and its subsidiary company.
Stargems Botswana expects to process 2000 – 3000 carats of rough diamonds monthly and carries the iconic Synova DaVinci Diamond Factory which combines three major operations, cutting, bruting, and faceting. The factory carries out all the essential manufacturing workflows, including the entire rough-to-polish process.
“We have high hopes that our presence in Botswana will add impetus to the economy and also curb the unemployment rate. Our goal is to grow our employment numbers to 500 in the foreseeable future,” Kolambekar said.
