Angola may look at restructuring the manner in which the diamonds are marketed by its state-owned companies along with other changes in the diamond sector, the country’s President, João Lourenço said during an interaction with diamantaires facilitated by the AWDC in Antwerp.

The President, who was on a two-day state visit to Belgium, said that some changes may be announced soon, as the new government seeks both to enhance production as well as increase value addition by developing some local facilities for cutting and polishing too.

Angola was seeking to reap the benefits of being the fifth-largest global producer of rough diamonds with annual production of over 9 million carats at a value of about US$ 1.1 billion.

Angola and Belgium have had ties across different business and trade sectors since 1976 with the framework for cooperation being defined under the Agreement on Economic, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation signed in 1983.

According to a report posted on the AWDC’s The Diamond Loupe, AWDC’s President Nishit Parikh, in his address at the same meeting, said that the transparency with which the diamond trade operated in Antwerp would help Angola achieve this aim of maximising value from its diamonds.

Pic caption: Angolan President João Lourenço
Pic courtesy: EIN Newswire