Africa boosts diamond cutting, polishing

WINDHOEK, Namibia, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- An Israeli businessman wants to make southern Africa a center of diamond cutting and polishing, not just mining.

Lev Leviev, owner of the Lev Leviev Group and Africa-Israel Investments, has a facility in Namibia and another under construction in Angola.

Dubbed "beneficiation," the strategy is calculated not only to boost Leviev's net worth but also boost the standard of living in southern Africa.

Using Namibia simply as a source of raw material without capturing the value-added downstream manufacturing squanders the potential of the country's most valuable resource, said Kombadayedu Kapwanga, Namibia's former minister of mines who now is managing director at Leviev's factory.

"As a patriot, I can't allow that," he said.