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Angola approves new rules for rough diamonds

14th December 2018

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The Angolan government in early December approved the new regulations concerning the commercialisation of diamonds, the Macauhub news agency has reported.

The country’s Council of Ministers (Cabinet) approved the regulations on December 5. The official title of the new set of rules is the Technical Regulation of the Commercialisation of Rough Diamonds.

Strategic Objectives

The new document is defined by the Council of Ministers in its communique as a “legal instrument”. It establishes the modalities for the purchase and sale of diamonds, with the intent to attain the “strategic objectives of the mining [or minerals] sector and the commercialisation policy defined by the executive, with a view to increasing prospecting and exploration, stimulating foreign investment, setting up of polishing facilities and obtaining greater revenues for the State”.

Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Diamantino de Azevedo pointed out that the the meeting had approved what had, in fact, been for some time the country’s diamond policy. “[This] was firstly based on the elimination of the monopoly of the commercialisation of rough diamonds which had existed in the country.”

Diamonds are Angola’s second-most-important export commodity, after oil and gas. There is, however, a huge gap between oil and gas, responsible for 91% of the country’s exports, and diamonds, responsible for 4.9%. But, according to the Angolan government, once the world’s biggest kimberlite mine, Luaxe, in Lunda Sul province, and other small- and medium-scale diamond operations in the provinces of Bié, Cuando Cubango, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Malanje have entered production, the country’s annual diamond production should double.

During 2017, the country’s diamond exports brought in gross revenue of $1-billion (€811-million). Total diamond production last year was 9.4-million carats. The average price realised was $113/carat. No less than 89.22% of the country’s diamond production came from the Catoca mining company. (Catoca is a joint venture between State-owned national diamond group Endiama, Russian diamond major Alrosa and Netherlands-domiciled LL International Holding. Endiama and Alrosa each hold 41% of Catoca, with LL International Holding having the remaining 18%.) The main markets for Angolan diamonds are Belgium, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these countries accounted for 70% of Angola’s diamond sales last year.

Petroleum and Gas

As for the petroleum and gas sector, the same Council of Ministers meeting also approved the final report of the working group on the restructuring of the country’s hydrocarbons sector. This had been set up by a Presidential decree in August. This will result in the creation of a new National Agency for Petroleum and Gas (Agência Nacional de Petróleos e Gás, or ANPG in Portuguese), under its own statute. This will be the country’s new concessionary body for the sector. The State-owned national oil and gas group, Sonangol, will now be restructured into an exploration, production, refining and distribution company.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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