With traditional international Western donors reluctant to loosen their purse strings, Southern African nations are now pinning their hopes of economic recovery on an anticipated diamond boom. The precious mineral is literally mined by bare hands in some parts of Southern Africa as new large deposits continue to be discovered in and around this impoverished part of the world, where many people survive on less than a dollar a day. Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe all boast large deposits of diamonds, which are yet to be commercially exploited. According to the World Diamond Council (WDC), revenues earned from the gemstones enable every child in Botswana to receive free education up to the age of 13, for instance. In fact the Botswana economy is fueled by its blossoming diamond trade, resulting in the country reporting surpluses almost every year, while other countries in the region struggle with their economies.

Namibia 

In Namibia the diamond mining industry generates over 40 percent of that country's annual export earnings. The latest statistics from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's (KPCS) 2009 annual summary on global diamond production, released on August 16, show Namibian diamonds last year continued to be the most valuable in the world by far, with an average value of $342.97 per carat of the precious stone.

Analysts say if competently mined, the diamonds provide an impetus for sound economic development for the country and its neighbors with similar deposits.

The KPCS report indicates that the closest gem value to the Namibian stones were South African diamonds, with an average value of $144.23 per carat, and Canada, whose sparklers had an average value of $134.75 per carat.

Namibia remained the sixth biggest diamond producer in the world in terms of value, releasing $408.7 million worth of stones into the international market.

According to the KPCS report, Russia claimed top spot with $2.3 billion, followed by Canada, Botswana, Angola and South Africa. Like in 2008, Namibia continued to be the eighth biggest diamond producer in the world in terms of carats, delivering 1.19 million carats of the total 124.8 million carats produced globally last year.