Nigerian woman a cut above in diamond trade

London

NIGERIAN Thelma West is a rare gem in the diamond world as a woman in a male-dominated sector with few Africans, despite the continent being the main source of the precious rocks.

The first in her family to work in diamonds, Ms West is used to being an outsider, having been raised in a Jewish family in a country where Jews number fewer than 50,000 out of a population of around 180 million people.

"I'm the only Nigerian Jewish woman in the trade, and I don't know of other African women in the business," the 32-year-old told AFP at her London-based busi…