“It is our target to polish 20% of our total diamond output per year,” mineral resources minister Diamantino Azevedo told the Angola International Diamond Conference (AIDC) in Saurimo.
“I know 20% is not an easy task, but that is the path that we want to take for our country and Africa to add value to our natural resources.”
He told diamond manufacturers that Luanda was aware of the difficulties dogging the sector.
“Let us just not complain, rather let us work together to eliminate any bottlenecks,” said the minister.
“There are good conditions for cutting and polishing [in Angola], but we will make the environment more attractive for those that are interested in diamond manufacturing in our country.”
Angola opened a diamond hub in Saurimo in early September this year, which will have the capacity to house 26 polishing factories.
The completed first phase of the hub was completed following an investment of $77 million and it will have four diamond cutting factories that will join the existing four in the country.
The hub, once fully complete, will be divided into three main areas: commercial, industrial, and one reserved for the hybrid plant.
Azevedo previously said Angola was currently exporting 99.5% of its rough diamonds.
Angola produced about 8 million carats last year down from 9.4 million carats in 2019 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau in Saurimo, Angola, Rough&Polished
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