Turning Rough Dreams into a Polished Reality? Investigating the Formation of Human Capital in Botswana’s Diamond Cutting and Polishing Industry

This thesis investigates Botswana’s vision to become a downstream player in the global diamond industry by creating downstream capabilities that can continue to benefit the country when diamond mining is no longer profitable. Botswana is the largest producer of diamonds, accounting for a quarter of the world’s diamond production by value. The government has used diamond revenues to foster economic growth. The diamond-led growth has however resulted in a largely undiversified economy with limited job creation. Furthermore, the country’s diamond-led growth is not sustainable, with resource depletion expected to take place in the next two decades. In response to these economic challenges, the government used its supply dominance to force downstream linkages in the diamond industry. As a result the country has 21 diamond cutting and polishing firms that employ over 3000 workers, representing a tenth of employment in the manufacturing sector. The research examines how efficiently human capital formation in Botswana’s diamond cutting and polishing industry is taking place in order to create downstream capabilities that can foster the industry’s competitiveness. This is done by examining the role of the education and vocational training system, industry training institutes and the firms themselves in creating the human capital required in the diamond cutting and polishing industry. This research also considers the impact of technological change on the industry’s human capital requirements. The education and vocational training system was found to meet the industry’s basic general human capital requirements. But due to the 2embryotic institutional training in the industry, the firms were found to be making investments in both industry- and firm-specific human capital. The research argues that institutional industry training needs to be strengthened, particularly in light of technological changes that may result in more industry-specific human capital requirements in the Botswana’s diamond cutting and polishing industry

The impact of a pro-male circumcision (MC) approach towards an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy in Botswana

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-103).This paper investigates how the emergence of male circumcision (MC) as part of a broader HIV prevention strategy will impact on Botswana's HIV/AIDS epidemic. Although is [sic] been more then two decades since Botswana's first case of HIV was diagnosed, HIV/AIDS is still the country's major development challenge. The government has played a key role in providing comprehensive treatment and care interventions and although prevention has always been the government's most important priority, the success of this has been limited. If Botswana is to succeed in decreasing the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in future generations there is a paramount need for more effective prevention interventions. Evidence of the preventative impact of MC presents a major opportunity to address this need. Botswana's government has recognized this opportunity and has begun a scale-up of the MC service in the country's health sector. Qualitative methods and quantitative methods show that the current pro-MC approach towards HIV prevention strategy in Botswana could have a positive impact on the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, the possible unintended effects of the scale-up of MC on behaviour should be considered carefully. Great care should be taken in ensuring that there is clarity amongst circumcised men, as well as the general public, on the 'limited' preventative impact of MC to deter behavioural disinhibition from taking place

Linkages in Botswana's diamond cutting and polishing industry

The table of contents for this item can be shared with the requester. The requester may then choose one chapter, up to 10% of the item, as per the Fair Dealing provision of the Canadian Copyright ActThe paper aims to investigate whether Botswana is succeeding in developing a viable and sustainable diamond cutting and polishing industry as part of the Government’s mineral beneficiation policy. This paper also aims to examine the nature and extent of forward linkages in the cutting and polishing industry and what role the linkage drives are playing in the widening and deepening these linkages. The research questions are addressed through by primary and secondary data collection. The research found that despite the weak economic rationale for the beneficiation policy, in the last 5 years Botswana has succeeded in developing a diamond cutting and polishing industry with significant local linkages. The forward linkages are policy driven and their progress is being hindered by the limited downstream skills amongst locals. Botswana’s cutting and polishing industry appears to be viable as secondary data suggests that the manufactures are either breaking-even or making a profit. The sustainability of the cutting and polishing industry hinges on viable rough diamond supply to the manufacturing firms. Significant prospecting activities, the expansion of mines and the current strategy by the biggest producer to optimize revenue (by only mining diamonds when demand exists) could increase the life diamond mining past the Government’s current forecast of two decades

Linkages in Botswana's Diamond Cutting and Polishing Industry

The paper aims to investigate whether Botswana is succeeding in developing a viable and sustainable diamond cutting and polishing industry as part of the Government’s mineral beneficiation policy. This paper also aims to examine the nature and extent of forward linkages in the cutting and polishing industry and what role the linkage drives are playing in the widening and deepening these linkages. The research questions are addressed through by primary and secondary data collection. The research found that despite the weak economic rationale for the beneficiation policy, in the last 5 years Botswana has succeeded in developing a diamond cutting and polishing industry with significant local linkages. The forward linkages are policy driven and their progress is being hindered by the limited downstream skills amongst locals. Botswana’s cutting and polishing industry appears to be viable as secondary data suggests that the manufactures are either breaking-even or making a profit. The sustainability of the cutting and polishing industry hinges on viable rough diamond supply to the manufacturing firms. Significant prospecting activities, the expansion of mines and the current strategy by the biggest producer to optimize revenue (by only mining diamonds when demand exists) could increase the life diamond mining past the Government’s current forecast of two decades

Hard assets: The return of rare diamonds and gems

This note examines the investment performance of diamonds and other gems (sapphires, rubies, and emeralds) over the period 1999–2010, using a novel data set of auction transactions. Over our time frame, the annualized real USD returns for white and colored diamonds equaled 6.4% and 2.9%, respectively. Since 2003, the average returns have been 10.0%, 5.5%, and 6.8% for white diamonds, colored diamonds, and other gems, respectively. Both white and colored diamonds outperformed stocks between 1999 and 2010. Nevertheless, gem returns covary positively with stock returns, underlining the importance of wealth-induced demand for luxury consumption in collectibles markets. Highlights ► We examine the returns on diamonds and other gems using auction data. ► Diamonds have outperformed equities (but underperformed gold) between 1999 and 2010. ► Equity valuations affect the prices of gemstone

Socio-cultural factors and capacity building in Interaction Design: results of a video diary study in Botswana

This paper presents the results of a video diary study that was conducted with ten novice interaction designers in Botswana, to investigate socio-cultural factors (SCFs) in interaction design. The overall aim of this research is to gain new insights into design behaviour in different cultures in order to inform international interaction design capacity building. To this end, this research investigates what SCFs are considered during the design process, which are accounted for in prototype designs and which interaction design concepts participants use to implement SCFs in their designs. The results reveal 13 categories of SCFs considered during the design process, 10 of which were implemented in prototypes. Participants used five main interaction design concepts to implement SCFs: simplicity, wearable devices, accessibility, universal design, and conversational interaction. In addition, they tended to rely on adaptations to existing products rather than creating new designs. Recommendations for capacity building include the need to identify concrete examples and alternative interaction design concepts that focus on a wider set of SCFs; and to draw upon the synergy between local product design practices and interaction design practices in order to learn how to transition SCFs into interactive products