While Israeli diamond dealer Erez Daleyot and D. D. Manufacturing might not be familiar names outside the diamond centers, they are a dominant presence in Antwerp and beyond. DDM is one of the biggest buyers of rough diamonds in the world with an impressive collection of sources with its DTC Sight being just the starting point.

 

The company is one of the biggest diamond manufacturers in Belgium and owns additional polishing plants in Israel and South Africa. The jewelry portfolio includes two of today’s hottest brands in the U.S.: Daniel K and Jacob the Jeweler.

 

The offices of Daleyot, owner and managing director of DDM, are a few floors below those of Sodiam in Antwerp. While DDM has the look and aura of an established diamond firm - complete with wall paintings, copies of articles about its jewelry companies in the meeting room, and a constant stream of people – the new offices of Sodiam, in contrast, were in the final stages of preparations with carpenters putting the final touches to a sundeck on the day of my visit.

 

There are several other differences as well. The Sodiam offices have the trappings of a diplomatic outpost with the Angolan flag in every room and formal photos of President De Santos in most of the rooms. This is the future site of Sodiam’s Antwerp sales office, the second such office outside Angola, and the reason it’s being mentioned in the same breath as Daleyot is because his DDM firm serves as a technical consultancy to the recently announced joint venture between Sodiam and Maurice Templesman’s Lazare Kaplan International (LKI).

 

Sodiam and LKI have a technical co-operation agreement and the partners expect several hundred million dollars worth of rough diamonds to be sold through the Antwerp office annually.

 

During a news conference in Antwerp last week announcing the office opening, the partners called it “the first step in the implementation of a long-term strategic relationship between the Sociedade de Comercializacao de Diamantes de Angola (SODIAM) and LKI”.

 

However, this relationship is not new, and the office opening in Antwerp merely marks a new chapter in their alliance.

 

LKI and its technical consultant DDM had been assisting Angola for a while when, about six years ago, during the civil war that ravaged the country, Angola decided to fight rebel UNITA forces by suffocating it financially. This meant fighting illegal diamond mining and smuggling by the rebels, among other approaches.

 

To do so, the country decided to give one company, Angola Selling Company (ASCorp), exclusive rough diamonds export rights to help it keep a close eye on the goods. But about a year ago, ASCorp, partly owned by Lev Leviev, lost its exclusive exporting license following the end of the civil war and a number of companies now hold rough diamond exporting rights alongside ASCorp.

 

One of the issues at hand was that ASCorp exported the formally mined diamonds and didn’t buy rough from the artisanal diggers. The diggers were considered illegal operators, especially since their goods were smuggled out of the country giving Angola nearly no benefit if at all.

 

LKI got in on the opportunity, lobbying the government directly and through diplomatic channels for the right to buy and export those goods. And so, in parallel with ASCorp and together with Sodiam, LKI started exporting the artisanal goods with the technical assistance of DDM, which provided technical know-how and guidance at the assortment facilities.

 

Taking that one step further, and in an apparent attempt to become less dependent on external forces, Sodiam is opening offices in diamond centers around the world, starting with Tel Aviv in a 50/50 partnership with Leviev, followed by Antwerp in partnership with LKI. The next to open is expected to be in New York, again with Templesman’s LKI, and a fourth office in Dubai, fully owned by Sodiam.

 

In practical terms, alongside the Sodiam manager, one of Daleyot’s team members will run the Antwerp office and the team of sorters will include both Angolan’s and DDM people.

 

Sitting in his Antwerp office, with a screen TV tuned to a sports channel broadcasting a tennis match in the background and examining rough stones at every short break, he expressed great confidence in the abilities of his partners.

 

“I believe in the Angolan people, and feel there is an unfulfilled potential,” says Daleyot, referring to what he found once ASCorp stepped down as the central exporting body and he stepped in with his lucrative assistance deal.

 

What he found among the Angolan diamond people left him very impressed. There is an increased knowledge and they are very efficient, he says. During negotiations they knew exactly what they wanted and needed, exhibiting an understanding of the diamond industry business beyond mining.

 

And it seems that Daleyot appreciates this ‘takhles’ attitude, colloquial Hebrew for practical purpose.

 

One can only wonder what role De Beers might have played in backing or encouraging LKI and DDM, both important Sightholders, in their Angolan endeavors. Daleyot won’t talk about that, let alone say if it’s part of a wider strategy against Leviev meant to block his widening presence in Africa and elsewhere.

 

One sure supporter of this cooperation is the U.S. government. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is a U.S. government agency that supports economic development by promoting U.S. private investment in developing countries and transition economies. OPIC and LKI have entered into a partnership by which OPIC will support LKI efforts to improve diamond production and sales in emerging markets throughout the world, particularly in Africa.

 

OPIC announced in October it would “provide a global framework credit facility to support investments by LKI in enterprises engaged in diamond mining or diamond cutting and polishing activities in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, or the Russian Federation”.

 

This is a credit facility upwards of $100 million, and Daleyot says DDM will continue to provide technical consultation in this framework too.