Sierra Leone 2015 Diamond Exports Plummet Following Ebola Outbreak
February 25, 16
(IDEX Online News) – Sierra Leone’s diamond exports saw a significant 20-percent decrease in 2015, as the West African state was one of the worst-affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus, according to reports on afp.com.
Deputy minister of mines and mineral resources, Abdul Ignost Koroma, said that diamond exports were only marginally more than 500,000 carats compared to 620,181 carats in 2014, as miners were restricted from working in widespread areas.
While there was a 20-percent decline in the volume of mined diamonds, the value slumped by 30 percent, with exports totaling $154 million compared to $221 million a year previously.
The onset of the Ebola outbreak constricted growth to 4 percent in 2014 and Sierra Leone’s economy contracted 21.5 percent in 2015, according to the report.
Sierra Leone is West Africa’s leading producer and exporter of diamonds and was also the location of the recovery of the world’s third largest diamond in 1972, the near 1,000-carat “Star of Sierra Leone.”