Faith Nyasuguta
Namibia is among Africa’s top five diamond exporters, following Angola, Botswana, and South Africa. In 2022, Namibia exported over $940 million worth of diamonds.
The global demand for natural diamonds has rebounded from a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Namibia’s largest marine diamond mining company, Debmarine, reported an 83% increase in sales in 2022 compared to the previous year.
However, Debmarine CEO Willy Mertens is concerned about the competition from synthetic diamonds, which could threaten jobs for many Namibians. Although trained jewelers can distinguish between lab-grown and natural diamonds, visually, there is no apparent difference.
According to Modern Mining, lab-grown diamond jewelry surpassed 10% of the global jewelry market for the first time in 2022. The publication forecasts that artificial diamond sales will continue to grow at a double-digit percentage annually in the coming years.
Namibia, where workers extracted 2.1 million carats of diamonds in 2022, is launching a campaign to promote natural diamonds as environmentally sound and offering better value for money.
“We’ve seen in the past couple of years that lab-grown diamonds, or synthetics, as you call them, have infiltrated the natural diamond market,” said Mertens. “Initially, they were marketed as real diamonds, and we’ve done a lot of work to differentiate them.”
One challenge in marketing Namibian natural diamonds is addressing their environmental impact. Mertens emphasized that Debmarine invests significantly in environmental rehabilitation and the restoration of landscapes and seabeds damaged by mining.
“The seabed naturally restores itself as the waves move,” Mertens explained. “We mine specific areas and leave adjacent areas untouched, monitoring the restoration process. We’ve observed that it takes about three to ten years for around 70% of the organisms to return. On land, we use the same sand moved during mining to maintain sea walls.”
Mertens recently visited Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, introducing De Beers’ global ambassador for natural diamonds, Hollywood actor Lupita Nyong’o, and discussing the challenges facing Namibia’s diamond industry.
Mbumba has now expressed strong opposition to a the new proposal by the Group of Seven (G7) largest economies that aims to route all diamonds through Antwerp, Belgium, for certification.
This initiative, part of the Kimberley Process, a global effort to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the international market is intended to curb the sale of Russian diamonds abroad. However, President Mbumba warned that this measure could have serious repercussions for African diamond-producing countries.
The Kimberley Process was established to certify diamonds as conflict-free, ensuring that their sale does not fund violence or human rights abuses. The G7’s latest proposal seeks to strengthen this process by centralizing the certification in Belgium, a major hub for the diamond trade.
The move is seen as a way to tighten controls on the diamond supply chain and prevent the entry of diamonds that may indirectly support the Russian economy amidst global sanctions.
President Mbumba highlighted the potential negative impact of this proposal on African nations, particularly those heavily reliant on diamond exports. “This decision poses a serious risk and threat to our economies, especially the economies of Angola, Botswana, and Namibia,” he stated.
“By increasing costs and curtailing the freedom of trade for our countries’ products, it could significantly hamper our economic growth.”
He elaborated that routing all rough and polished diamonds destined for G7 countries through Belgium would not only raise trade costs but also restrict the autonomy of African nations in managing their diamond industries.
This, he argued, would disproportionately affect the economies of diamond-producing countries in Africa, which rely heavily on this sector for revenue and employment.
In response to the G7’s proposal, President Mbumba revealed that he, along with leaders from Angola and Botswana, has formally addressed a letter to the G7. The letter urges the group to reconsider their plan, emphasizing that it could undermine the economic interests and trade freedoms of African nations.
The leaders are concerned that such a centralization of the certification process could create a monopoly that benefits certain regions at the expense of others.
The opposition from these African leaders highlights the broader tensions in the global diamond trade, particularly regarding the fair and equitable treatment of all participating countries.
The Kimberley Process, while aimed at preventing conflict diamonds, has been criticized for its potential to inadvertently penalize legitimate diamond-producing countries.
This situation highlights the complexities of implementing global standards in industries with significant economic and geopolitical stakes.
The decision by the G7, driven by geopolitical concerns and the need to ensure ethical sourcing, must balance these aims with the economic realities faced by countries dependent on the diamond trade.
As the debate continues, African nations are closely watching how the G7 will respond to their concerns. The outcome could have significant implications for the future of the Kimberley Process and the global diamond market.
If the G7 proceeds with its plan, it may prompt a re-evaluation of the international diamond certification process and potentially lead to further calls for reform to ensure it accommodates the interests of all stakeholders involved.
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