Hip-hop mogul heads to Africa to reform diamond trade

Russell Simmons, the powerful and business-savvy co-founder of Def Jam Records, plans to turn his skills to reforming the diamond trade in Africa.

Simmons plans to visit South Africa and Botswana this month to tour diamond mines and factories on a fact-finding mission.

He is starting theDiamond Empowerment Fund, which he says will teach Africans how to cut and polish diamonds rather than simply mining them.

"We want more of black Africans to become executives," the 49-year-old hip-hop mogul said.

"We're starting the Diamond Empowerment Fund to teach Africans how to cut and polish diamonds on the continent, instead of taking the diamonds out. The diamond industry should be the leader of African empowerment."

About half a million South Africans alone depend on the diamond trade for their living, but most are involved in the low-paying end of the business mining and initial processing.

South Africa has a policy it calls black economic empowerment geared to training and moving black citizens into different key industries.

But the higher quality diamond trades, including cutting and polishing, are based mainly in Belgium and Israel.

The business end of the industry is dominated by a few multinationals, including South Africa's De Beers.

Simmons and his delegation plan to explore how to leverage their relationships in the diamond business to improve educational and economic conditions in distressed African communities.

Diamonds are becoming a bit of a cause clbre for the hip hop community and not just because of the stars' fondness for bling.

In January 2004, Simmons teamed up with the diamond company M. Fabrikant & Sons to create Simmons Jewelry Co., which makes a line of fine jewelry and diamonds.

Simmons contends his products are "conflict free" and benefit the communities that are home to the mines.

Kanye West also has highlighted the conflict that seems to follow the diamond trade, with the song Diamonds From Sierra Leone on his latest CD.

A movie scheduled for release later this year, Blood Diamonds starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will tell the story of how wars start over control of the diamond trade.

De Beers, which produces about 40 per cent of the world's diamonds, also claims its diamonds are "conflict free."

Simmons's Def Jam label helped move hip hop into the mainstream and has recorded artists such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy and Ludacris.