Angola negotiates return of multinational diamond miners

Angola is negotiating the return of the world’s major diamond companies to the country with emphasis on De Beers and Rio Tinto, according to Ganga Júnior, Chairman of ENDIAMA, the Angolan National Diamond Company, who said that contacts and negotiations in some cases “are already at an advanced stage.”
He opined that a possible comeback of the two multinational diamond mining corporations to Angola “is welcome”, taking into account the current year that he considers difficult for the Angolan diamond industry, as well as a noticeable plunge in production and the closure of major global diamond markets due to the continuous COVID-19 pandemic.
Suddenly, we stopped buying and selling, as all the countries and international financial markets have been closed, said the head of ENDIAMA pointing in particular to the Belgian and Indian diamond markets.
As is known, Angola produces between 9 and 10 million carats of rough diamonds annually, which represents about a third of what is produced by ALROSA and De Beers.
Within the framework of ongoing reforms in the sector, ENDIAMA is in the process of privatization that is expected to be completed by 2022.
The idea is that the Angolan diamond giant will focus on its core business disposing of alternative operations, thus bringing about a significant increase in tax contributions, which are still minimal.
In 2018 and 2019, the State coffers benefited from ENDIAMA’s contribution of US$ 252 million and US$ 328 million respectively, which is to increase to almost US$ 1.4 billion in two years.

Dias Francisco, correspondent of Rough&Polished in Angola