The future of the Angolan diamond industry in the current context of the international market was analysed at a brainstorming session that brought together those responsible for the Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas sector in Luanda, under the guidance of Minister Diamantino Azevedo.

In his speech, Diamantino Azevedo emphasised the industry’s current challenges, marked by falling diamond prices and competition from synthetic diamonds. Despite these aspects, he said that the current state of the sector is characterised by evolution.

 ‘The diamond sector has evolved. With the guidance of President João Lourenço, we will continue to develop our diamond industry, but with our vision. We are mature enough to take our diamond sector into our own hands. Investments must be in line with our vision,’ said the minister.

In order to strengthen Angola’s position in the international market, he said that the way forward has been to get closer to the big international jewellers and the United States Geological Institute, as well as interacting with the World Diamond Council, highlighting the return of De Beers to Angola as one of the results.

He also spoke about the risks inherent in illegal diamond mining, pointing out that, as well as being a criminal offence, mining has a negative impact on the environment and is a violation of the rights of the people.

During the debate, topics such as ‘ENDIAMA: the way forward’, ‘the future of the Catoca and Luele Mining Societies’, ‘price volatility on the national and international markets’ and Peter Meeus’ sharing of experiences on the new cooperation agreement between Botswana and De Beers, diamond exchanges and the world’s jewellery industry were also discussed.