Skills Implications of Botswana's Diamond Beneficiation Strategy
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Washington, DC
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This note examines the skills
implications of the beneficiation strategy, particularly
those of diamond cutting and polishing. In addition to
reviewing the government s plans to develop downstream
activities and their implementation, the note offers
employment projections based on the potential success of
diamond beneficiation efforts. For this purpose, an
input-output simulation is used to show how output linkages
arising from the production of polished diamond exports will
impact labor in various sectors of the economy. The analysis
is based on primary data and information collected through
interviews with relevant stakeholders in the diamond
industry, as well as secondary data from official sources.
The note suggests that in the last five years, Botswana has
made considerable progress in establishing a local cutting
and polishing industry, but that the success of this
industry depends on the creation of concomitant skills. By
2010, the industry had already created close to 3,000 direct
jobs in 16 cutting and polishing factories, in line with
governmental targets. The input-output simulation shows,
that the output linkages arising from the input demands
associated with processing rough diamonds, valued at $550
million by the 16 aforementioned factories has the potential
to create over 6,000 indirect jobs in the country. The
cutting and polishing industry is still in the development
phase and needs a dynamic policy environment in order to
remain relevant at all stages of its development. Policies
are needed in particular to: create industry-specific skills
(with clear skills transfer targets, or deadlines),
establish technology links between the diamond hub and the
innovation sector, facilitate rough diamond trading, and
expand the capacity of the Botswana Training Authority
(BOTA) to accredit cutting and polishing programs within
industry factories.
Palabras clave
ACCOUNTING, AGRICULTURE, BARRIERS TO ENTRY, BUSINESS SERVICES, CERTIFICATION, COMMUNICATION SECTOR, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, COMPETITIVENESS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS, CONSTRUCTION, COST EFFECTIVENESS, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMICS, ELASTICITY, EMPLOYEE, EMPLOYMENT, EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS, EMPLOYMENT GROWTH, EMPLOYMENT INCREASE, EMPLOYMENT LEVELS, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EXPORTS, FACTORS OF PRODUCTION, FOREIGN LABOR, FOREIGN WORKERS, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HUMAN RESOURCE, HUMAN RESOURCES, INCOME, INNOVATION, INSURANCE, JOB CREATION, JOBS, LABOR COSTS, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR TURNOVER, LABOR-INTENSIVE GROWTH, LABORERS, LABOUR, MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, MATHEMATICS, MOTIVATION, MULTIPLIER EFFECTS, NATURAL RESOURCES, NDP, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS, OUTPUTS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRODUCTION COSTS, PRODUCTION PROCESS, PRODUCTION SIDE, PRODUCTIVITY, RETAIL TRADE, SKILLED LABOR, SKILLED WORKERS, SKILLED WORKFORCE, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SUPPLIERS, TECHNICIANS, TELECOMMUNICATION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRAINING PROGRAMS, TRAINING PROVIDERS, UNSKILLED WORKERS, VALUE ADDED, WELFARE SYSTEM, WORKERS, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT