The region at the border of Kenya and Tanzania in east Africa is famous for top grade gems such as tanzanite and tsavorite garnet, and has been extensively mined for more than 30 years. But new gemstone discoveries continue to be made throughout Tanzania, including sapphire, theodolite garnet and zircon. In 2007 a spectacular deposit of neon pink-red spinel was found in the Mahenge area in Tanzania, and many gem dealers regard it as the finest spinel ever discovered. In the last few years there have been some small finds of high quality ruby, but these were quickly exhausted. Tanzanite production continues to be steady and reliable, with more stable prices. 

Though Ethiopia is not known as a gemstone producer, a major find of high quality Opal was discovered in Welo province in 2008. The prices on this fine opal have been very attractive and Ethiopian opal is now a strong competitor to Australian opal in the market.

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Mozambique, to the south of Tanzania, is producing excellent Tourmaline in a wide range of colors, as well as Aquamarine. Mozambique has recently become famous for its high quality Paraiba tourmaline, and most of the world supply of Paraiba is now coming from Mozambique rather than the original source in Brazil. More recently there has been some top grade ruby found in Mozambique, including some material of excellent color that does not require heat treatment.

Zambia, just to the east of Mozambique, has become known for its small production of high quality amethyst, and famous for its significant production of deep green emeralds.

​Africa is a strategic region for copper production and exploration, with hot spots in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, South Africa and Namibia. The mineral-rich African continent may be best known for its wealth of oil, gold and diamonds, but the region also hosts significant copper resources. The DRC is the top copper producer in Africa, and the fourth largest copper producer globally. In 2019, the DRC’s copper mine production totaled 1.3 million metric tons (MT). Most of the country’s copper operations are in the province of Katanga — it’s known for its vast mineral resources, which also include cobalt, tin, uranium and diamonds. Katanga is located on the Central African Copper belt, the world’s largest and most prolific mineralized sediment-hosted copper belt.

The huge island of Madagascar off the coast of Mozambique had never been an important source for gemstones. Then in 1998 large deposits of high quality corundum were discovered. The result was a kind of gold rush on the island, as thousands of miners flocked to the mines. Madagascar is most famous for ruby and blue sapphire, but many different colors of corundum have been found there, including pink, yellow, green, white and padparadscha.

However, it is not just the quantity and variety of material that has made Madagascar so important as a sapphire producer. Rather it is the combination of the quality and size of the gems, a combination that had not been seen in the gems business for many years. Madagascar has also yielded some new gem varieties, such as the discovery of pezzottaite in 2002. The first blue garnets known were found in Bekily in 1998.

​Most of the country’s copper operations are in the province of Katanga — it’s known for its vast mineral resources, which also include cobalt, tin, uranium and diamonds. Katanga is located on the Central African Copper belt, the world’s largest and most prolific mineralized sediment-hosted copper belt

​Nigeria, the large west African nation, is the one important gemstone producer not in the Mozambique Belt. Nigeria has produced respectable blue sapphire as well as large quantities of fine tourmaline. Some of the finest spessartite garnet has also been found there, as well as aquamarine, pyrope and almandine garnet and topaz.