Namibia ponders diamond sales outside De Beers framework - report

Namibia is considering setting up a company to sell its diamonds outside the De Beers framework.
Currently, all diamonds mined by Namdeb, a joint venture between the Namibian government and De Beers, were being exported to De Beers sorting facilities in Botswana and mixed with other De Beers goods from its mines across the globe.
Only 10 percent of Namdeb’s total output returned to Namibia to be sold to approximately 12 local sightholders via the Namibia Diamond Trading Company, which was also jointly owned between the Namibian government and De Beers.
Namdeb produced 1.762 million carats in 2013, accounting for about 6 percent of De Beers total production.
“Our diamonds are sold through a joint venture with De Beers but we are considering setting up a company through which we will be able to sell our gems directly to the trade,” Namibia’s minister of mines and energy Isak Katali was quoted as saying by Rapaport at the World Diamond Congress meeting in Antwerp.
He said the Namibian government was still in the negotiation stage to set up the company.
The idea, Katali said, was to give diamond dealers and manufacturers an opportunity to buy diamonds directly from the southern African country.
Rapaport reports that the new state-run trading company in Namibia would mirror the recent establishment of the Okavango Diamond Company in Botswana.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished