Petronella Sibeene
5 September 2007
Windhoek — Namibia would see an upsurge in the opening of diamond cutting and polishing factories in the next few months as the Government steps up its commitment to add value to its unfinished products, the Diamond Commissioner Kennedy Hamutenya has said.
The Diamond Commissioner yesterday told New Era that the Ministry of Mines and Energy has so far registered 20 licences for cutting and polishing of the precious stones. Six of the approved licences are already in operation, he said. According to Hamutenya, there will be a lot of activity in the next few months.
"Other factories are under construction and will be opening (in the coming few months)," he added. Already, one new multi-million-dollar diamond polishing company, Dali Diamond, would be inaugurated in the capital early next month.
Dali Diamond, an Antwerp-based diamond supplier, will distribute and market Namibian diamonds, a statement said yesterday.
To be based in the capital's Prosperita area, the US$2.7 million factory is scheduled to be fully operational towards the end of this year. Dali Diamond director, Isi Mörsel, said: "Dali is committed to Namibia and the company will help develop the local economy by making sizeable investments in training the local workers."
State-of-the-art technology will be installed at the factory.
While Namibia strives to market its products by using the country's brand, Mörsel says the company will also invest in branding the origin of the country's diamonds.
"We also believe in the value-creating potential of branding the Namibian origin. We will use our proven brand development experience and established network in various downstream markets," he said. By next year, the factory is likely to employ and train about 150 Namibians.
The envisaged workforce stands at 300.
Africa is said to have, for long, depended on other countries to add value to its unfinished products.
If most diamond producing countries in the SADC region and the continent at large could have diamond polishing and cutting factories, some experts believe poverty would be reduced and employment creation could be enhanced.
Once jobs are created in the industry, this would help maintain peace and stability in these countries.
Dali Diamond was established in 1958 and the company is a supplier of watch and jewellery houses. It has been a site-holder of DTC since 1969 and a customer of a Russian mining company Alrosa since 1994.
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