Angola to Establish Diamond Hub and Bourse
June 09, 20
(IDEX Online) - Angola is to establish a national bourse and diamond hub as it seeks to consolidate its position as a player on the world market.
It's currently the sixth biggest diamond producer but has yet to explore 60 per cent of its potential kimberlite reserves.
The government believes it could actually increase its rough production as other countries see theirs decline.
"The main ambition of the Angolan Diamond Hub will be to provide the platform that will put this enormous flow of diamonds under one roof," it said in a statement issued today.
It has appointed industry expert Peter Meeus to coordinate the initiative. He was instrumental in turning Dubai into a diamond hub and served as managing director of the HRD (now the Antwerp World Diamond Centre).
Sodiam, the government body that supervises diamond trading - and that will manage the newly-established Angolan Diamond Bourse, said it sold 9.44 million carats of diamonds in 2019, providing income of $1.299bn.
Angola has made repeated efforts to counter diamond smuggling - deporting 250,000 smugglers between 2003 and 2006 - and has faced ongoing allegations over "conflict diamonds".
Its largest mine, Catoca, (pictured) accounts for 61 per cent of its output, and it has 13 smaller mines.