Lupita Nyong’o, the global ambassador for the world’s leading diamond company De Beers, was in Namibia last week to witness the impact that natural diamonds have on the country and its people. A De Beers ambassador since 2022, Nyong’o has sought to learn more about the untold stories of natural diamonds. 

Together with joint venture partners, the De Beers Group employs more than 20 000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with diamond mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa.

A focus of the Academy Award-winning actress’s visit was to understand the company’s ‘Building Forever’ sustainability framework, which aims to ensure that every diamond De Beers recovers helps create a positive impact for the people and places it came from, with a priority focus on empowering women entrepreneurs in the communities near its operations, and supporting women and girls to study STEM (science, technology, mathematics and engineering) disciplines.  

Nyong’o visited Namdeb, Debmarine Namibia and Namibian Diamond Trading Company, 50:50 joint ventures between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group. Namdeb performs land-based prospecting (exploration), mining and rehabilitation operations on the south-west coast of Namibia, whereas Debmarine Namibia is the leading marine diamond recovery company, and is recognised as a world leader in marine diamond exploration and mining technology.  The NDTC sorts and values rough diamonds discovered in the country and sells rough diamonds, including to Namibian-based diamond polishing companies. Namibia’s world-class diamond producers discover some of the highest value diamonds in the world.

“To date, NDTC has sold more than US$$4 billion worth of rough diamonds to its Sightholder customers in the country for local value-addition purposes, supporting Namibia’s economic development objectives,” said NDTC chief executive Brent Eiseb. 

Every Namibian diamond is a symbol of hope, resilience and enduring value. During her stay in Namibia, Nyong’o, a vocal proponent for the advancement of women and girls, visited a number of community projects where De Beers is a funding partner. She met with female entrepreneurs who were involved in the Olafika Mentoring Programme and EntrepenHer. She also paid a visit to the #BeFree Campus in Windhoek, a youth facility which provides reproductive health services and skills training for young people, founded by the former first lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos. While there, she had the chance to meet with women who benefited from WomEng, who are trailblazers in the STEM ecosystem. 

A gala dinner was held in honour of Nyong’o, attended by the minister in the Office of the Presidency, Christine Hoebes, and high-ranking business personalities. 

At the dinner, she said: “I think that in the world today, we fixate more on the value of diamonds, and rarely consider what the value of the diamond industry is to the countries in which they are sourced. 

As such, I have come to this region to observe and absorb for myself what diamonds are doing for the people here. 

And I have already witnessed how much more there is to their story. What I have experienced so far is that diamonds have impacted the trajectory of Namibia as a whole. They have touched the lives of many people in Namibia, and it is clear that the effects of diamonds on society are as prismatic as the diamonds themselves.”

Nyong’o concluded her visit to Namibia with a courtesy call on President Nangolo Mbumba, who praised her efforts to learn about the positive contribution natural diamonds make to the Namibian economy.