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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-ZW link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><img width=1067 height=1513 id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D57C9B.664D6160"></span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:3.75pt;margin-bottom:3.75pt;margin-left:.5in;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:0%;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:whitesmoke'>mage credit: Shutterstock<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white'><strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Mosibudi Jo Mathole and Khomotso Ramodipa are rare gems in the male-dominated diamond industry. The South African sisters run one of the few women-owned diamond polishing businesses in the world. And, despite the slumping global market for diamonds, and a shrinking industry in South Africa, they’ve managed to keep shining and developing new female talent.</span></strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>A passion for diamonds drove South African sisters Mathole and Ramodipa to drop their careers as an investment banker and an optometrist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>After qualifying as diamond valuators, in 2008 they started a cutting and polishing shop, Kwame Diamonds – the first and only one run by sisters in South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4 style='mso-margin-top-alt:18.7pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:1.25rem'><strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Many barriers to entry</span></strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></h4><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Entering this industry is not easy explains the company’s founder and director, Mosibudi Jo Mathole.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>“The barriers to entry go beyond just being a woman or being a man, because the difficulty boils down to having an outfit like this, you really need a proper capital outlay. And for women it becomes a bit tricky because this has always been a very male-dominated industry.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>But seeing challenges as opportunities, the sisters cut their way into the diamond industry, selling only responsibly sourced, certified stones bought from mining companies operating in South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Kwame Diamonds carved out a niche in cutting and polishing fancy and bespoke cut diamonds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4 style='mso-margin-top-alt:18.7pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:1.25rem'><strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Among the best</span></strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></h4><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>They are also accredited to cut and polish world-renown De Beers Group’s branded diamonds, says co-owner and director, Khomotso Ramodipa.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>“To be able to produce a Forevermark diamond, which according to them, it’s 1% of the world diamonds that are produced. … If you are able to polish that kind of diamond, then you are among one of the best,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Mathole and Ramodipa employ and empower women in the diamond industry by developing their skills. Diamond polisher Grace Tshego’s repertoire now includes more than the round cut.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>“Now I can go out there and say, ‘I’m a diamond cutter. I’m even specialising with fancy cut.’ It’s something that is so wow, cause other people they don’t know it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4 style='mso-margin-top-alt:18.7pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:1.25rem'><strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Shrinking diamond business</span></strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></h4><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Globally, polished diamonds’ profit margins are declining.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>The South African industry shrank from 4,500 polishers 25 years ago to 250 polishers today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>But the sister-run Kwame Diamonds has managed to not only stay in the market but gain a reputation for innovation, according to the president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, Ernie Blom.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>“They’re looking at the diamond industry from a different perspective,” he said. “They’re thinking out of the box. And maybe they’re ticking all the right boxes that is giving them the success that they have. And maybe that’s what a lot of the older diamond industry can learn from.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>Many in South Africa’s diamond industry fear a lack of growth will cause a shortage of jobs for trained diamond talent, but not Mathole.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>“How you approach the business is what will set you apart,” she said. “So yes, it is shrinking, but we are here not to shrink. We are here to make sure that we expand.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:23.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:0.875rem'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555'>These dynamic sisters are determined to prove not just that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but that the industry is a place where women can shine.--Howwemadeitinafrica<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#555555;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><img width=800 height=400 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D5886E.E9D554F0" alt="https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/kwame800.jpg"></span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#212529'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><i><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Invest Wisely!</span></i><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Bulls n Bears<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Telephone: </span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><a href="tel:%2B263%204%202927658" target="_blank"><span style='color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'>+263 4 2927658</span></a></span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Cellphone: </span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><a href="tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674" target="_blank"><span style='color:windowtext;background:white;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW;text-decoration:none'>+263 719 441 674</span></a></span><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.2pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZW'>Alt. 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