Africa-Press – Namibia. A DELEGATION of Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) visited the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) in Belgium last week to learn how to maintain the highest standard of due diligence and compliance as a diamond company.
Namdia’s general manager, Lelly Usiku, and company secretary Marvel Tjombonde visited the citadel of Antwerp’s billion-dollar operations, the import and export authority diamond office, as well as AWDC’s in-house tender facility.
The focus of AWDC’s presentation to the delegation was to demonstrate how Antwerp is the single-most controlled diamond-trade hub with the implementation of the highest standards.
Usiku and Tjombonde witnessed how independent, sworn experts, assigned by and under the supervision of government officials, physically inspect each shipment that passes through the diamond office – on average, some 550 shipments worth between US$150 million and US$200 million per day.
“The independent controls on documented origin, classification, weight, and value are a key component of Antwerp’s focus on creating full transparency and accountability, which is an asset to miners and producing countries’ governments,” Karen Rentmeesters, the senior communications manager, said.
“Antwerp is the only centre in the world that applies these rigorous controls, and they leave no room for malpractice, such as the undervaluation of goods,” she said.
At the Antwerp tender facility, an in-house tender venue that AWDC rents out to specialists as well as governments seeking to market their diamonds, the Namdia delegation saw the buzz at South African tender specialist First Element’s tender, which had to be extended to accommodate over 160 interested companies that week.
“The beauty of working in Antwerp, is that whatever you are selling, you will always find a buyer, and you will get the best market value for your rough,” said Edward Wilkes of First Element.
Despite technological developments, such as scans and mappings, buying rough diamonds remains a matter where buyers want to physically inspect the goods to assess the potential of individual stones and parcels, before making an online bid.
Namdia, authorised to sell 15% of rough production from the Namibian government-and-De Beers joint venture Namdeb, is under increased scrutiny as allegations of opaque business practices and the undervalued selling of its rough diamonds mount.
While Antwerp is the preferred place for miners and producers to sell their rough, with over 86% of all global rough diamonds traded in the city, especially run-of-mine and original productions that enter the market for the first time, very few Namdia diamonds are sold directly through Antwerp.
“Less than 1% of Namdia goods reach Antwerp directly,” Rentmeesters said.
“During this visit, AWDC has reiterated its offer to work more closely with Namdia, and for example host a trial, dual viewing tender, held both in Antwerp and Windhoek. This would tie in perfectly with Namdia’s mandate to gauge the market and maximise the value of its rough in full transparency and accountability.”
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