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Namibia is finalising a deal with diamond producer De Beers that will see more of the gems cut and polished in the southern African country rather than abroad, newspaper The Namibian reported on Tuesday.
A unit of Anglo American, De Beers operates a joint venture in Namibia with the government called Namdeb, which accounted for 6% of group diamond production in the first quarter of 2015.
Such a move would mirror a similar one taken by neighbouring Botswana, the world’s largest diamond producer, which in 2011 negotiated a deal with De Beers to sort, value and sell diamonds domestically rather than in London.
The newspaper said the government wanted 25% to 30% of the diamonds produced by Namdeb to be processed in Namibia.
Officials from Namdeb and De Beers were not available for immediate comment.
