BAPHALANE ba-mantserre

Blood diamonds refer to illegally traded diamonds that are used to monetarily support war in Africa. These diamonds began to surface in the late 1990’s in Sierra Leone. African communities dig in mines in hope of finding diamonds that a lot of the times are smuggled illegally to members of the government. At the peak of their production, they accounted for about four percent of the world’s diamond production. African rebels are gaining control over larger territories by commanding the discovery and production of the diamond mines. These diamonds have begun to spread throughout Africa, fueling conflict in various countries. This, in turn, makes blood diamonds and conflict diamonds synonymous. Though conflict diamonds give rise to a small portion of positive economic gain, they fund and support a violent environment across Africa that needs to come to an end.