African Diamond Conference | Speakers

In 1981, Mr. Reynders obtained a degree in law at the University of Liège. Guest lecturer at the universities of Liège and Louvain, he has never really left the academic life. After presiding over the Belgian railways and the Belgian Airways Agency, he was elected Deputy Chairman of the PRL (Liberal party), before becoming a Member of Parliament in 1992. On 12 July 1999, he became Minister of Finance and, on 18 July 2004, (concurrently) Deputy Prime Minister.
 He was Chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur (party alliance) from 11 October 2004 until 14 February 2011. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs from 6 December 2011 until 11 October 2014. He became Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, in charge of Beliris and Federal Cultural Institutions on 11 October 2014.

Hon. Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray is a seasoned Sierra Leonean Insurance and Risk Management Expert. He is a Fellow of the West African Insurance Institute and has over thirty years of local and international senior management experience and expertise in Labour, Social Security and Mineral Sectors in Sierra Leone. In recognition of his distinguished and dedicated service to the State, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma conferred upon him the Honour of “Commander of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone (CORSL)”.

INTRODUCTION & CLOSING REMARKS

Mr. Fischler is a third generation diamantaire and a partner in Fischler Diamonds. He is serving as Vice-President of SBD (the Belgian Manufacturers Association), acting President of the World Diamond Council (WDC) and former president and current vice-president of the International Diamond Council (IDC). He is also member of the board of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and of the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI).

Mr. Kilalea has been analysing the diamond and diamond mining industry for more than 25 years for several leading investment banks including JP Morgan, HSBC, Nedbank and Royal Bank of Canada from Johannesburg and London. Most recently he covered the diamond industry for RBC over a 10 years’ period and has recently joined Canaccord Genuity London. His research embraces analysis of the state of the rough and polished diamond markets and the future of diamond mining, as well as the financial implications for the major listed diamond companies.

SESSION 1

​​​​​​​Mr. Moroka joined De Beers Global Sightholder Sales Botswana as Resident Director in February 2010.  He has extensive experience in both public and private sectors in Botswana. He started his working career in the public service in 1980. In 1984, he joined Barclays Bank and moved up the ranks until he left to work for BP in 1991, first as the General Manager for BP Botswana and then moving to Zambia to take up the post of Managing Director for BP Zambia in 1999. In the same year, he was appointed Commercial Director of BP South Africa responsible for BP commercial activities in 13 South African Development Community countries. Mr. Moroka then joined the Botswana Government as Minister of Trade and Industry, a role he held until the end of 2009. ​​​​

Mrs. Kaninda was named Executive Director of the World Diamond Council (WDC) on March 1, 2017. Immediately prior to joining the WDC, she was the Chief Advisor for External Affairs, Africa at Rio Tinto Corporation, a position she held since 2012. Before joining Rio Tinto, she held Administrative, Communication and External Affairs roles with other international mining companies such as Ashanti Goldfields, AngloGold Ashanti, and De Beers. She has provided her expertise to several community development projects in Africa, including successfully relocating a community in Angola, as well as implementing several Stakeholder Engagement strategy plans for a variety of African operations. A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ms. Kaninda is founder and creator of a non-profit organization, the MCKM Foundation, which focuses on education for girls in the DRC. The 2nd Vice President of the National Committee for Women’s Soccer in the DRC, chairperson of the British Congo Business Group (BCBG), and chairperson of an Anti-Corruption Working Group for the private sector in the DRC, and until end April 2017 she has been a Board member of the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI).

Ms. Dambe is one of Southern Africa's leading women in the Marketing, Media and Communications industry. She has over 20 years executive management experience. Educated in Botswana, USA and Canada, she holds a BA Honours from Queens University from Ontario, Canada. She has highly developed corporate-management skills in the business strategy, entrepreneurship, strategic marketing, communications, media relations and Public Relations. She brings with her extensive business networks from more than 28 African countries, USA, Europe and Asia. Ms Dambe is currently the Vice President of Corporate Affairs at De Beers Global Sightholder Sales (DBGSS) and is responsible for Government Relations, External Communications, Sustainability and Social Investment. Her primary role is to protect and promote the brand and reputation of the DBGSS and diamonds as a category, and support the commercial interests of the business with external and internal stakeholders. The role also entails managing DBGSS’s relationships with Government and non-Government stakeholders.

Mr. Miema has worked with the Ministry of Mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for more than 10 years. After having served as Government Supervisor of Emaxon Polishing, a diamond cutting and polishing factory in DRC, he currently holds the position of Head of Certification Department at the Centre for Expertise, Evaluation and Certification of Precious and Semi-precious Minerals (CEEC), a state regulatory organization in charge for certifying exports of minerals from the DRC. In addition, Mr. Miema serves as the Kimberley Process Focal Point for the DRC. He played an important role as Technical Expert of the KP Chair while the DRC chaired this initiative in 2011. He is currently coordinating the Working Group on Monitoring Technical Team for the Regional Approach to Kimberley Process compliance in the Mano River Union countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia). Furthermore, Mr. Miema is also involved in the implementation of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region Certification Mechanism (ICGLR) as regards responsible sourcing in the designated minerals (Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum and gold (3Ts + Gold)) in reference with the OECD Due Diligence Guide.

Professor Grynberg received his PhD from Mc Gill University in Montreal. He has taught in Canada, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Namibia. He specializes in trade policy and trade in commodities with a particular emphasis on Minerals Trade and Minerals Economics. Professor Grynberg has worked as Adviser to UNCTAD and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation. He was Deputy Director of Trade Policy at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and Director of Economic Governance at the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva, Fiji. He has published and edited a score of books and several dozen scholarly papers largely on international trade matters. His most recent work was a two-volume anthology of the Global Diamond Industry published in 2016 by Palgrave. He has published books on the World Trade Organization and small states (Oxford 2006) and Commodity Prices and Development (Cambridge- 2007). He completed a major research work funded by the African Development Bank for the Government of Botswana entitled ‘Botswana After Diamonds’ in 2015. He has just completed a peer reviewed book entitled ‘De Beers, Botswana and the Global Diamond Trade’.

Ms. Korinek specializes in responding to needs of policy makers in the areas of trade and economic development policy. Her recent policy research has been in the areas of benefits of good regulation in the extractive industries, export restrictions on raw materials, impacts of regional trade agreements, trade effects of exchange rates, trade costs and short-term trade finance. Former positions include Global Relations Advisor, OECD. Ms. Korinek holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Duke University and graduate degree in International Economics from Stanford University. She has authored several publications related to Trade in Raw Materials.

Mrs. Gizenga, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a Canadian who holds degrees in chemistry and economics. She has worked with provincial and federal governments, as well as community organizations in Canada and Africa. Her experience includes policy development, international negotiation, evaluation, project design, management and coordination, and working with disadvantaged and marginalized groups. In her former work, she was responsible for supporting the implementation of projects related to the Kimberley Process, the International Conference for Peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the prevention of violence against women in conflict zones. She also took part in the creation and development of the Diamond Development Initiative.

SESSION 2

Mr. Biesheuvel has been a reporter at Bloomberg News for more than eight years. He covers the mining industry and wider metal and commodity markets. He has a special interest in the diamond industry, reporting on both the mining and midstream sectors. Mr. Biesheuvel is a graduate of University of Leeds and received a post graduate diploma in journalism from Cardiff University.

Mr. Lieberherr entered the diamond industry in 2005 when he joined Rio Tinto Diamonds after 15 years in international sales and marketing positions with LVMH and Unilever. In his last position as Managing Director of Rio Tinto Diamonds, he was responsible for all activities of the business, from mine to market. During that time, Mr. Lieberherr served on the Board of the World Diamond Council and in 2015 he co-founded the Diamond Producers Association and served as its first elected chairman. In February 2016, he left Rio Tinto Diamonds and was appointed Chief Executive of the Diamond Producers Association.”

Mr. Schulman has over 17 years of experience across the diamond and jewellery pipeline with a notable business development background. He has gained an extensive global network coupled with versatile experience in research and analysis, marketing, and development of trading platforms in both the B2B and B2C sectors.  With an eye to exemplary service, continuing innovation and streamlined business practices, Mr. Schulman has been at the forefront of developing the Tender & Auction platforms as efficient and effective sales & marketing tools for both buyers and sellers globally. As CEO, Mr. Schulman has spearheaded the growth and development of Koin International to one of the largest international diamond tender houses today.

Mr. Zimnisky has worked in the capital markets industry for over 10 years where he has held roles as a metals and mining analyst, arbitrage trader, exchange-traded fund developer, and consultant.

As an independent analyst and consultant, his work on diamonds and the mining industry has been used globally by management consulting firms, private and public corporations, governments, and institutional investors including KPMG, Boston Consulting Group, the Fiscal Policy Division of the Northwest Territories of Canada, and the Ministry of Finance of Namibia. He is a regular contributor to industry leading trade journals and websites including the The London Mining Journal, Kitco, and Mining.com.

He is a graduate of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business with a B.S. in finance. 

Mr. Owen-Jones is the Assistant Secretary of the Australian Competitiveness Branch, in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mr Owen-Jones is an experienced career diplomat with over twenty-five years’ international service, including diplomatic postings to Manila, Moscow (twice), Paris, Bonn, Lisbon and Washington.

Previously, he was the Assistant Secretary of the G20 Branch in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to this, he was the Assistant Secretary of the Global Engagement Branch and the Assistant Secretary of the Multilateral Negotiations Branch in the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

Mr. Owen-Jones has chaired many international processes and meetings, including for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (SBI Chair), the World Bank, OECD, G20 and the UN Diplomatic Conference that established the Tsunami Warning System for the Indian Ocean. He is currently the Chair of the Kimberley Process (“Conflict Diamonds”) and Vice Chair of the OECD Tourism Committee.

SESSION 3

Mrs. Merchant manages Bonas' affiliate office in Mumbai. She has a proven track record of conducting industry and competitive analyses across the diamond manufacturing value chain– from sourcing rough diamonds to polishing, selling loose diamond, manufacturing and sales of jewellery. She has worked on several strategic reports for the Gem & Jewellery Promotion Council of India, Tanishq, and presented her work at industry-specific conferences in China, India, USA etc.  Mrs. Merchant is considered as a domain specialist on man-made diamonds, provided briefing and analysis to allied players. She has co-authored the first detailed study on man-made diamonds based on face-to-face interviews of key players in over 20 different cities ranging from Antwerp to Ahmedabad and Surat to South Carolina. She is working closely with several global key diamond institutions to create processes and legislation to ensure separate value chains for man-made and natural diamonds.

Mr. Vandenbempt is professor of strategic management and associate dean of internationalization at the Faculty of Applied Economics (University of Antwerp, Belgium). He is also a faculty member of Antwerp Management School (Belgium) where he is involved in executive education and customer specific programs. His research interests focus on strategic issues in industrial markets in general and on pricing and market dynamics in the diamond market in particular. His work has been published in Long Range Planning, Management Learning, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Human Relations and other outlets. He is also visiting faculty at universities in Russia, the US and India. Mr. Vandenbempt is also the independent director of AWDC (Antwerp World Diamond Centre).

Mr. Golan is a veteran of the diamond industry, researching and writing about it since 2001. He specializes in a wide range of topics relating to this unique industry, including the way it operates, wholesale and retail polished diamond prices, the rough diamond sector of the diamond pipeline and investment in diamonds.
Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data Ltd. was formed to provide research analysis and consultancy services for the global diamond industry. Its sphere of activities ranges from in-depth data analysis based on own detailed data, research of the diamond mining, wholesale and retail markets, rough and polished price analysis and more.

Mr. Backaert has been in the diamond industry for over 15 years, after having gained experience as a cross-industry CRM consultant at Cap Gemini. Mr Backaert in his current position for Bonas Group is advising some prominent diamond companies in multiple fields such as CSR, marketing and business development. In addition, he has been monitoring the synthetic diamond landscape for over 4 years now and has been active in multiple assignments commissioned by some leading associations in the diamond industry.  Mr Backaert has also been an active member of the Responsible Jewellery Council since 2005 and was appointed as a Director in the company in 2015.

Mrs. Sally Morrison has been a major force in the evolution of innovative marketing in the fine jewelry category.  She has developed some of the industry’s most iconic marketing and PR campaigns for De Beers, World Gold Council, and Gemfields.  “A Diamond is Forever,” “LoveGold,” and “Real is Rare,” are some of the memorable, meaningful campaigns that Mrs. Morrison has led over the past fifteen years.  Throughout her career, she has worked not only to make fine jewelry appealing to consumers – particularly young consumers – but to provide critical marketing support to fine jewelry suppliers and retailers, as well as young and emerging designers. A founder of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), she has also made broad and meaningful contributions in spearheading industry action around social responsibility and responsible sourcing across her career.
Mrs. Morrison began her career working high-profile marketing and events as vice-president, External Affairs of amFAR, and as a senior vice president of Miramax Films.  She was educated at Wadham College, Oxford.

Mr. Shah is the founder and president of Flawless Allure Grown Diamonds (FAGD), part of the Indus Global Group with interests in Industrial Diamonds, Industrial Diamond Tools and Lab-grown Diamonds. He is one of the pioneer of lab-grown diamond business in India, having started the company in 2007. The company now has an integrated manufacturing facility to manufacture lab-grown polished diamonds and lab-grown diamond jewelry.

He has extensive experience in manufacturing processes in the entire value-chain of the lab-grown diamond business, from crystal-growth to jewelry design development. He is also actively involved in the Group’s CSR and Philanthropy activities, being associated with various NGO’s for educational and primary healthcare of tribal region in West India.

FAGD is member of the International Grown Diamond Association.

Mr. de Carvalho holds a Master of Science degree in Mining Engineering, and completed his Bachelor Degree in 1993 at the Silesia University (Gliwice, Poland), in the Speciality of Mining Technics. He has been a Senior Official of the Ministry of Geology and Mines for nearly 24 years with proven experience in many domains, more especially in the mining industry, and the assessment and development of projects. Eng. de Carvalho has attended a specialization course in the Ecole de Mines de Paris in France. For many years, he has held the post of Head of Department of Mining Supervision, Director of the Office of Studies, Planning and Statistics of the Ministry of Geology and Mines of Angola. He was the focal point for SADC for the Mining sector and currently, he is a member of the Angolan Engineers Order and the Committee of Geology and Mining Experts of the MPLA political party. Currently, Mr. de Carvalho is the Executive Secretary of the Association of African Diamond Producing Countries (ADPA).