Molefi Letsiki is the founder of Molefi Letsiki Diamonds, a South Africa-based diamond manufacturing entity which made history when it became the first majority black-owned company to become a De Beers sightholder.
Molefi currently serves as chairperson of the Diamond Dealers Club of South Africa and is deeply invested in bringing about transformation in this historically significant diamond center, as South Africa faces unique challenges and accordingly has a different approach to beneficiation.
You can find Molefi on Instagram: @molefiletsikidiamonds and @molefiletsiki,Twitter: @MolefiLetsiki, Company website: www.mldiamonds.com
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Here's a bit more about Molefi, as posted on LinkedIn on September 12...
Calm, cool and collected is how I’d describe Molefi Letsiki.
I met Molefi a few years back, as he emerged at various industry events among representatives of the South African trade. But it was when I visited his offices in Johannesburg last month that I really got a chance to hear his story and understand his perspective of the diamond market.
All I can say is that our in-depth discussion was well overdue. Molefi has an important story to tell, both on a personal level and as someone who is invested in the task of growing South Africa’s beneficiation industry.
First the personal stuff. Molefi is a second-generation diamantaire. His father is a master cutter who worked for several sightholders before venturing on his own later in his career. That gave Molefi his first exposure to the industry. While waiting for his father on his way home from school, he would move from the waiting room to the factory floor, and eventually onto the cutting wheel.
Molefi studied IT at university, gaining skills he says come in handy in today’s diamond market. But diamonds are in his blood, and he was soon drawn back to the industry. Eventually embarking on his own entrepreneurial journey, Molefi joined the De Beers Group Enterprise Development Program in its inaugural year. There he gained access to rough from the mining giant, but more importantly, he received mentorship in all aspects of running a modern diamond business.
He applied those skills, and it paid off. Last year Molefi Letsiki Diamonds - www.mldiamonds.com - became the first black-owned company to become a De Beers sightholder, and the company’s polished stones today grace some of the top jewelry brands.
Molefi recognizes the unique story that he and other South Africans have, as well as the opportunity the trade has to nurture entrepreneurship within the local industry and uplift members of the broader community. It’s a legacy he is developing as chairman of the Diamond Dealers Club of South Africa (www.diamonds.org.za) and as a cofounder of the South African Young Diamond Beneficiators' Guild. He also sits on the executive committee of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.
Molefi acknowledges South Africa faces unique challenges in its beneficiation program. But he also recognizes the exceptional opportunities it presents. It is a story that continues to evolve and one gets the feeling that Molefi’s journey has just begun. I’m excited to watch the next chapter unfold – both his personal one, and that of the industry he represents. Either way, it is a story that the rest of the industry should hear and learn from.
Meet Molefi everyone.
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