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Article: Diamonds, development, and democracy.(Company overview)
- Article from:
- World Policy Journal
- Article date:
- September 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 World Policy Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Gaborone, Botswana, is the capital of a country which 40 years ago was ranked as the poorest in the world. Today, as one of the most successful economies in Africa, it could represent the continent's future. Nowhere is that potential for the next quarter century more graphically demonstrated than in a new glass and concrete structure in the heart of Gaborone. At this $83 million state-of the-art facility, 39 machines combining the latest software and precision optical systems are the most technically advanced in the world for the sorting and valuing of Botswana's most important resource and the source of its prosperity--gem diamonds. With Batswana technicians at the ...