The Kimberley Process Certification System
In 2002, the Kimberley Process Certification System was established by diamond-producing countries all over the world. This tracks the diamonds from the mines to the counter where they are sold. This lessens the trade of blood diamonds. Before this system, blood diamonds were about four percent of the world’s diamond production. Afterwards it was only about one percent.
Economic Impacts in Angola
In Africa, wealth and power went hand in hand. The diamond mines were the place that held most of the wealth in Angola. There were many wars going on in Africa so the countries needed a way to pay for them and that is where the diamonds come into play. However, in Angola, it was blood diamonds that were being mined. A rebel group called the Revolutionary United Front smuggled the blood diamonds into other neighboring countries which were then sold in world markets. These diamonds paid for weapons, transportation, food, and other necessities for the rebel groups. The rebel groups earn about 200 to 250 million dollars annually from the blood diamonds.
Economic Impacts in Liberia
Once people began trading blood diamonds, Liberia quickly became the transit place for smuggled diamonds. The money that rebel groups made from selling the blood diamonds to other countries played a big part in funding the Liberian civil war. The rebel groups in Liberia earned just as much money from mining the blood diamonds as the groups in Angola which was about 200 to 250 million dollars per year.