Local Artisanal, Small-scale Miners (ASMs) and Gemstones dealers have called on the Malawi Government to remove the newly introduced restrictions on the exportation of gemstones saying they are greatly affecting their business.
The Ministry of Mining recently banned exportation of gemstones and precious minerals and the Malawi Revenue Authority followed up with a notice that included “unmanufactured gemstones” among the list of restricted and prohibited imports/exports.
“Due to the ban, our markets have been taken over by our competitors and it will not be easy to gain the trust of our customers since it manifests that our country is unstable. No international buyer would want to be associated with such a country. We are, therefore, making losses and cannot service loans,” said MD for Maleta Gems and Jewelry, Percy Meleta.
Mining & Trade News
April 03, 2025
Wahard Betha
Maleta explained that the Government is missing the point if it thinks the ban is one way of reforming the sector saying the only way Government can reform the gemstone industry is to train more gemologists, promote value addition, create more functional mining cooperatives and ease the export process.
He said: “Equally, the Government should train its staff. We need more gemologists in Government with the right equipment and exposure to the world of gemstones.”
“Make the export process seamless, create a one-point centre unlike what is happening now where by one has to go to so many government offices to get an export permit.”
Maleta also advised the Government to learn from other leading countries like Zambia in terms of gemstone marketing, in order to make the gemstone sector attractive.
He said countries with competitive gemstone industry are reducing or removing taxes to facilitate more exports which in turn brings more forex, create more jobs as well as entice more investors.
In a separate interview, gemstone miner and dealer Chikomeni Manda also bemoaned the ban saying engaging the exporters would have been ideal before shutting down the system completely.
Manda said the reasons that led to the ban were unjustifiable and retrogressive to the sector whole market is always unstable in nature.
He said: “The way they did it was not a proper way because they could have engaged gemstone dealers on the problems to map the way forward.”
“Even though some stones might be undervalued, when exporting they go through all appropriate channels such that we have gemologists who evaluate these stones in accordance with the prevailing market situation.”
“The gemstone market is different compared to that of other minerals. You can sell the same stone today at a high price, come tomorrow it goes at a lower price so in that scenario amount of revenue differ. As we speak, gemstones market is very down and dealers are struggling a lot in terms of marketing and pricing.”
Manda also explained that the nature of gemstone market dwells on quantity but not quality, such that some stones are sold in high volumes hence are very cheap.
He observed that the ban has only negatively impacted revenue collection from the industry and few dealers who export through right channels but fueled smuggling as many dealers continue to export the stones to bordering countries, which are later traded on the world market as mined in those nations.
Manda said: “If they are emerging issues it is better for the government to engage dealers not coming up with such decisions.”
“People think each and every gemstone is worth a fortune and the market is stable all the time, but go to Export Development Fund (EDF), being a government entity that is buying the stones. They are even struggling to find market for rhodolite and what more to a dealer who is just trying to survive.”
“So, the government has to address the main challenge which is smuggling not go against those using right channels.”
Meanwhile, the Mining Ministry is requesting all gemstone license holders who exported minerals between January 1, 2024 to February 17, 2025 to submit all their export returns to Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (MMRA), in order to be granted export permits.
Tap here to read the original post in Mining & Trade News
