African diamond syndicate challenged

The announcement of plans to establish a diamond �syndicate� along the lines of OPEC by Africa�s diamond producing countries met with reservations from several member states amid concerns about its objectives.

Government sources in South Africa and Botswana said in response to the announcement made by DRC�s deputy minister of mines Victor Kasongo in an interview on Bloomberg, that the so-called African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), failed to meet the different objectives of diamond producing countries on the African continent.

The report, cited Kasongo as saying: �We will establish the OPEC of diamonds. We will form united diamond policies, so that we have more power in the international arena.�

Recently, the governments in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, have geared their legislation towards local cutting and polishing as well as jewelry manufacturing to generate more employment in the diamond sector.

This, said a government source in South Africa, could be a key objective for an organization like ADPA.

�If ADPA is working together on cutting and polishing, jewelry production and training of people, then it will work, if it is built on pricing it won�t,� said the government source.

In Botswana, a government official who asked not to be named, said the main focus of African producing countries should be on driving the Kimberley Process � aimed at curbing the trade of diamonds used to financing wars.

�We should not undermine the Kimberley Process, which is more urgent. In addition, most producing countries have different ways of marketing their diamonds,� he said.

The 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, influences oil prices by regulating the production over 40% of the world's supply.

According to the report, the diamond association will formally be constituted at a meeting of the countries' mining ministers in Luanda on April 30.