Experts in the mining industry are sounding the alarm that Malawi sits on a treasure trove of high-value gemstones capable of generating over $1 billion annually. Yet, the country continues to struggle with chronic foreign exchange shortages and deepening poverty.
This was the striking message delivered by Yamikani Jimusole, Chief Executive Officer of Yami Gemstone Lab and Exports Limited and a graduate gemologist, who laid bare the structural failures crippling Malawi’s mining sector.
According to Jimusole, whose company operates in both mining and gemological services, Malawi is endowed with over 25 types of gemstones, including rubies, sapphires, spinels and aquamarine, but lacks the systems needed to unlock their true value.
“If these can be properly beneficiated, we believe that they can generate over a billion dollars annually,” Jimusole stated, pointing to a missed economic opportunity of staggering proportions.
The core problem, according to the CEO, is not a lack of resources but a critical expertise gap.
“The main problem is we do not have the expertise. Currently, the government doesn’t have accredited gemologists as well as accredited appraisers,” he explained.
Jimusole revealed a personal cost of this systemic failure, disclosing that in his case, he had not sold his gemstones for quite a long time because of the same issue.
He explained that he had been stockpiling gemstones since 2021, when he first began engaging the government, refusing to sell at undervalued prices.
“We have seen Malawi exporting its gemstones without knowing its true market value. As an expert, I need to certify my gemstones so that I can also realize the true market value,” he added.
Jimusole’s long-standing concerns gained official validation in February 2025, when the former Vice President Michael Usi directed the Ministry of Mining and the Minerals Regulatory Authority to suspend the issuance of gemstone export licenses.
The directive cited concerns over flawed valuation and a fraudulent valuation system.
That ban remains in effect to this day. On the question of certification, Jimusole was clear that Malawi cannot solve this challenge in isolation:
“We cannot do this alone. What we need to do is to collaborate with either gemological schools or gemological laboratories — the best, actually, in the world.”
Adding weight to the industry’s plea, Sylvester Namiwa, Executive Director for the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), who visited Yami Gemstone Lab and Exports, issued a powerful challenge to government authorities.
“The question is, why is Malawi poor? Why are we struggling to get forex?” Namiwa asked.
“The coming here was to make a case. We are now challenging authorities to come here and engage with this company so that they should do an assessment to say how much are we losing as a country by sitting on these high-value gemstones.”
Namiwa raised concerns about foreign exploitation, specifically calling out Chinese nationals whom he accused of “robbing these stones in broad daylight.”
“Malawi should no longer survive on a begging bowl when actually God placed us with high-value minerals,” he added.
The CDEDI director argued for a fundamental economic pivot including, reviewing national policies governing the mining sector, establishing a structured gemstone market, migrating away from over-dependence on agriculture, which “has failed to bail us out of this abject poverty” and embracing mining as a primary economic pillar.
On the certification crisis, Namiwa was emphatic that solutions must come from technical experts, not bureaucrats. He also insisted that any imported expertise must come with conditions.
“If it means hiring expertise, we have to. But before they leave the country, they should transfer their skills to our locals, so much that we should continue with this industry,” he concluded.
