By Chrispin Inambao WINDHOEK Namibia yesterday renewed the Diamond Sales Agreement with De Beers in a 50/50 shareholding deal that will culminate in a large amount of gems sorted, valuated, marketed and sold locally. Though the agreement, with an eight-year lifespan, was only signed yesterday by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Erkki Nghimtina, and Nicky Oppeinheimer, the Chairman of De Beers, it came into effect on January 1, 2006 after it elapsed in December 2005. Previously, the agreement only covered five-year periods, but with yesterday’s signing that followed protracted, intense talks, the new sales agreement runs until December 31, 2013. Yesterday’s agreement is historic in that it gave birth to a new outfit registered as the Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) charged with valuing, sorting, selling and marketing of NamDeb’s diamond production. And expectations are that the level of turnover of local beneficiation could reach up to N$2 billion by 2009. Local cutters further stand to benefit from the “aggregated mix” sold through NDTC. Through the agreement, the government’s role is no longer relegated to that of a regulator and, to some extent, producer through the partnership in NamDeb “but it has been elevated to a business partner in the sorting, valuing, selling and marketing of diamonds.” “The shareholders – namely GRN and De Beers – shall be able to derive maximum profits from the increased sale of diamonds both the Aggregated and NamDeb Cuttables,” said the Mines and Energy Minister who, prior to independence, had worked at a diamond mine. Local cutting and polishing factories stand to be the “ultimate winner” since, for the first time in history, they shall be able to get supply in two streams, firstly from local diamonds equivalent to 16 percent by carat of NamDeb’s production, and secondly from the aggregated cuttable to be received from Diamond Trading Corporation (DTC). In terms of the new deal, there shall be a marked increase in the transfer of technical skills, and improved technical capacity of the local cutting and polishing factories. “As a result, Namibia stands to benefit through the much-needed job-creation and increased revenue to the State and, most importantly, Namibia shall be able to create brands for its diamonds that may have a positive effect on the tourism industry,” he said. With this in place, Namibia also stands a good chance of becoming a diamond centre. On the challenges facing the industry, Nghimtina urged the two parties to ensure the diamonds extracted locally are protected against the underworld of blood diamonds and the emerging threat involving synthetic gems that are man-made. On his part, Nicky Oppenheimer said, “Today’s agreement is further testimony to the strength of our 13-year partnership, and a demonstration of our commitment to working together with Government to ensure that the country’s most valuable asset has been turned into wealth that touches the lives of all Namibians.” He said through the partnership in its thirteenth year it has seen NamDeb continuing to set new global benchmarks for alluvial open-cast mining that surpassed a million carats in 2006 at a time when the resource was nearing its centennial year of mining. Last year, NamDeb saw a record production of 2 million carats and it eclipsed its own record on marine diamonds that accounted for a million carats. In this vein, the Managing Director of the De Beers Group, Gareth Penny, commended Inge Zaamwani, the Managing Director of NamDeb, for setting records in both alluvial and marine mining. Diamond mining contributes a substantial chunk of 12.5 percent to Namibia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounts for over a third of export revenue and generates seven percent of government revenue. The Prime Minister Nahas Angula, the Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Amathila, several ministers and MPs from both the ruling and opposition benches attended. Shihaleni Ndjaba, the Permanent Secretary of Works, Transport and Communication, led the government negotiating team while Gareth Penny was the head of the De Beers team.