Diamonds' uncertain future
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 26 April 2026
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We’re in Sierra Leone where the gems have helped to fuel war and, many would say, decades of corruption. The closure of the country’s biggest diamond mine has added to the economic uncertainty as well as the fear of further conflict.
In the first of two programmes, we look at the clouds hanging over West Africa’s diamond industry.
To get in touch with the team, send us an email to businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by Ed Butler
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
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(Picture: A man washing diamonds in a mine in Kono, Sierra Leone. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.6 | That's the sound of the gate here, the security people. |
| 0:12.7 | They're coming out to look at me suspiciously as I bang on the door. |
| 0:20.2 | Hi there, my name's Ed Butler. |
| 0:21.9 | Welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:25.1 | Today I'm in Sierra Leone in West Africa, |
| 0:28.3 | and I'm standing outside an old mine site, |
| 0:32.7 | one of the most contested and contentious areas |
| 0:36.1 | in all of Sierra Leone right now. |
| 0:39.6 | I feel so bad, so devastated when they close the mine. |
| 0:44.9 | My source of income was closed down. |
| 0:47.9 | This is our challenge, our husbands have been laying off, and there's no money. |
| 0:52.1 | An industrial dispute in what it says about the legacy of diamonds |
| 0:56.9 | here in West Africa, |
| 0:58.9 | that's business daily from the BBC. |
| 1:04.3 | The view is extraordinary around here. |
| 1:07.1 | You've kind of got the mountains in the distance, |
| 1:09.5 | palm trees, verdant forests. |
| 1:12.6 | This is the richest most fertile region of an already pretty lush green country. |
| 1:18.7 | You feel like Sierra Leone should be doing a lot better than it is. |
| 1:23.0 | But nowadays, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, |
| 1:28.4 | dependent on its mineral resources for what foreign income it makes. |
... |
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