Posted on Nov 13, 2019
Newsday - Why does Russia want to end the embargo on the Central African Republic's diamonds? -...
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In recent years, Russia has been seeking to expand its influence in Africa. One country it has focused on is the Central African Republic, a small but strategic nation with significant diamond mines. Russia has now announced that it wants to lift an embargo which prohibits suspected "blood diamonds " from being exported from certain areas of the country. Newsday's Alan Kasujja has been speaking to Brad Brooks-Rubin, managing director of the campaign group The Sentry, and former special adviser for Conflict Diamonds at the U.S. Department of State.
Newsday - Why does Russia want to end the embargo on the Central African Republic's diamonds? -...
Posted from bbc.co.uk
Russia
Bangui
Africa
Posted 5 y ago
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I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to determine the reason: money.
Without going deep in the weeds, certain Russian oligarchs (well, one really) have invested heavily in buying influence in CAR. The reason why is diamonds and other minerals. Russia has long sought to get in on the gem diamond business (most Russian domestic diamonds are only industrial quality), but the monopoly that DeBeers has on the world market stifles that ambition. This is an attempts to bypass that monopoly.
It is a high-risk/ high-reward play. CAR is extremely unstable, with several armed groups controlling swaths of territory. But diamonds are beyond lucrative - oligarch guy would find himself impossibly wealthy if his plan succeeds.
Without going deep in the weeds, certain Russian oligarchs (well, one really) have invested heavily in buying influence in CAR. The reason why is diamonds and other minerals. Russia has long sought to get in on the gem diamond business (most Russian domestic diamonds are only industrial quality), but the monopoly that DeBeers has on the world market stifles that ambition. This is an attempts to bypass that monopoly.
It is a high-risk/ high-reward play. CAR is extremely unstable, with several armed groups controlling swaths of territory. But diamonds are beyond lucrative - oligarch guy would find himself impossibly wealthy if his plan succeeds.
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