The diamond industry was affected by slow discoveries, sales and exports during the Covid-19 pandemic period. In 2020, Namibia produced a total of 1,549,732 carats and 1,762, 905 carats in 2021.
The historical production of diamonds was to the value of N$16.7 billion recorded in 2018, the total value derived from rough diamonds slumped in 2019 to N$15 billion and N$13 billion in 2020. The preceding year of 2021 recorded a slight recovery of N$13 billion.
The current year, 2022, is displaying positive signs of recovery for the sector as the country’s GDP growth and employment creation are reliant on this sector.
To summarise the optimism for the current year, the preliminary value recovered from rough diamonds for the period of January to June exceeds to a peak of N$8.9 billion (similar to the value recorded during the same period in 2018).
This signifies a positive recovery for diamond production and sales to boost optimism for growth and economic recovery. Challenged with the global volatility towards inflation and escalating interest rates which triggers slower production output globally, the country is faced with uncertainties regarding various industries and need to monitor the performance of various economic and industrial sectors to identify steady growth and recovery.
Rough diamond sales are reliant on international polished diamonds market sales in countries such as Belgium, USA, China, Europe, Canada, etc. In 2021, majority of Namibia’s rough diamonds were exported to Botswana, were the aggregated stock sold from the De Beers Global Sales office that facilitates the sale for stock mined in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana primarily. The non-aggregated stock is sold via NDTC and NAMDIA.
In 2021, diamonds worth N$6.7 billion were exported to Botswana, followed by N$2.3 billion to UAE, N$1.8 billion to Belgium, N$495 million to the USA and N$429 million to Hong Kong.
In the same year, Russia was the highest producer of diamonds with 39 million carats, followed by Botswana with 22 million carats, Canada with 17 million carats, DRC (14 million carats), South Africa (9.7 million carats) and Angola with 8.7 million carats.
Namibia followed in with 1.7 million carats, although it produces a low number of carats, it is ranked higher in terms of value per carat mined directly from the ocean floor.
*By Rodney Hoaeb
