Angola wants to increase its diamond production from 9 to 14 million carats by 2022. An objective of the Angolan government that the World Diamond Council (WDC) considers feasible. In a conversation with Plataforma, WDC President Stephane Fischler said that Angola has all the conditions to be among the biggest producers within three years. To do this, however, it is necessary to "invest and modernize."
Angola is currently among the world's top ten diamond producers. About 60 percent of the world's annual diamond production comes from the African continent, something that, according to St?? (C)phane Fischler, African countries should take advantage of, especially Angola, mainly due to the potential reserves that this country has.
"We were very satisfied with this new objective of the Angolan government, it is something that we agreed on and we had already approached the Angolan government in this regard. There is work to develop, we have to invest and modernize, because there is still 20 percent of artisanal prospecting in Angola, but there is a lot of growth potential. Angola has a great diamond potential, especially for reserves, above one billion carats. Based on recent studies, Angola will be the scene of great discoveries in the coming years. But there are also other African countries with innate capacities to remain at the top, such as Botswana, Congo and South Africa, which have many resources," Fischler told Plataforma.
"The great world powers work in African countries, as Russia does in Angola. But there are, of course, national companies working on diamonds, whether in Angola or other African countries. And some of these companies still do not meet all the conditions, especially in terms of safety. It is in this sense that we have met with the African governments to make them see the need for a greater follow-up of these companies, which still have many handcrafted processes of diamond prospecting. I am confident that together we will be able to innovate these processes, whether in Angola or in all other African countries, even because we know that diamonds are fundamental to the African economies," Fischler said.
"It is necessary to create conditions so that the Angolan national companies can be totally autonomous, have their own productions, without the need of consortiums with other foreigner companies. Endiama is trying to find solutions in that matter and we are pleased to see this happening, it would be decisive for the Angolan economy. Since it has natural reserves, with the right investment, adequate working conditions and greater power to sell more and better, Angola has the potential to be among the biggest producers by 2022, as is the objective of the Angolan government," Fischler said.