Why Zambia has not benefitted from its rosewood trade with ChinaJ
Paolo Omar Cerutti
Davison Gumbo
Rosewood is popular in China for ‘hongmu’ - antique furniture. Shutterstock/HelloRF Zcool
Rosewood is the generic name for several dark-red hardwood species found in tropical regions across the globe. It fetches very high prices because it’s strong, heavy, has a beautiful red hue and takes polish very well – and because the trees are becoming increasingly scarce. On the Chinese market in 2014, for example, prices were in excess of USD$17,000 per ton. That’s ten times higher than the price of more standard tropical hardwood.
Davison Gumbo
Rosewood is popular in China for ‘hongmu’ - antique furniture. Shutterstock/HelloRF ZcoolRosewood is the generic name for several dark-red hardwood species found in tropical regions across the globe. It fetches very high prices because it’s strong, heavy, has a beautiful red hue and takes polish very well – and because the trees are becoming increasingly scarce. On the Chinese market in 2014, for example, prices were in excess of USD$17,000 per ton. That’s ten times higher than the price of more standard tropical hardwood.
A woman votes in Zambia. Beyond multi-party systems and regular elections, many countries resemble very little of true democracies.GovernmentZA/Flickr,