De Beers: Namibia to cut, polish more gems

NAMIBIA is finalising a deal with diamond producer De Beers that will see more of the gems cut and polished in the country rather than abroad, newspaper The Namibian reported yesterday. A unit of Anglo American, De Beers operates a joint venture in Namibia with the government called Namdeb, which accounted for 6 percent of group diamond production in the first quarter of 2015. Such a move would mirror a similar one taken by neighbouring Botswana, the largest diamond producer, which in 2011 negotiated a deal with De Beers to sort, value and sell diamonds locally rather than in London. The newspaper said the government wanted 25 percent to 30 percent of the diamonds produced by Namdeb to be processed in Namibia. Officials from Namdeb and De Beers were not available for immediate comment. Anglo shares rose 1.26 percent to close at R192.69. – Reuters