Astronomers, perhaps inspired by the Beatles, have actually found a diamond in the sky - with plenty of bling at 10 billion trillion trillion carats. Here on Earth, you probably know that most diamonds are produced in Africa, and that the sector does not have a great track record in corporate social responsibility. This may be about to change, as we learn from PublicPrivateDialogue.org that the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) just launched a trans-national public-private dialogue initiative focused on the diamond sector.
The NEPAD Diamond Producers of Africa Initiative will involve the private sector and the governments of Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Tanzania. A joint code of conduct has already been drafted, which will have implications for how mining companies perform on corporate social responsibility. The Charter of Good Practice in Public Private Dialogue had identified these types of cross-border and sectoral focus as very efficient ways to promote competitiveness at the regional level.
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