NDTC to be primary vehicle for growth of diamond manufacturing industry

31 Jan '07

3 min read

The Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers announced an agreement that secures the sale of Namibia's diamonds through the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) until 2013. This agreement will cement one of the most enduring and important partnerships in the global diamond industry for years to come.

For the first time, this unique agreement will extend from diamond mining into diamond marketing with the establishment of a 50:50 joint venture - Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) - responsible for the valuing, sorting, selling and marketing of Namdeb's diamond production.

Diamonds play an important role in the Namibian economy:
• Diamonds account for more than 40% of the country's export revenue, 7% of the government revenue and approximately 10% of the country's GDP.
• Namibia produces approximately N$5 billion (US$700 million) worth of diamonds per year.
• With almost 3,200 employees, Namdeb is already Namibia's largest employer. The number of those supported by the De Beers family of companies in Namibia is more than 40,000.
• Namdeb contributes approximately N$2 million (US$300,000) in corporate social development projects annually in Namibia, principally in the areas of education, small business, community development and health, particularly in HIV/Aids prevention.
• Namdeb is the largest corporate responsibility contributor to the socio-economic development of Namibia.

Both partners, the Government and De Beers, are committed to the creation of a sustainable and flourishing downstream diamond industry. To this end, NDTC will sell rough diamonds to local cutting and polishing factories as well as export to DTC International.

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