WINDHOEK – Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) yesterday declared a dividend of N$80 million to the government.
Since its establishment in 2016, Namdia handed over its first dividend of N$50 million last year.
In 2016, the birth of Namdia enabled Namibia to determine the value of her diamonds and contribute to her socio-economic development.
Such an achievement by Namdia was yesterday praised by mines and energy minister Tom Alweendo, who said the company is one of the few state-owned enterprises that have been declaring dividends to the shareholder.
At the same occasion, the minister also announced the newly appointed Namdia board members who will be at the helm of the company for the next three years.
Brent Eiseb who is Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) CEO is the new chairperson replacing Shakespeare Masiza. The other board members are Justus Hausiku, Ndapwilapo Shimutwikeni, Jacquiline Pack and Liina Muatunga.
“I trust the board members will execute the task entrusted to them in an efficient and effective manner,” Alweendo noted.
Outgoing board chair Masiza said Namdia’s business plan has always been about exploring future upside opportunities further down the value chain in the international diamond pipeline.
He added it has been a successful year for Namdia with a number of important milestones achieved.
According to him, Namdia remains well positioned to continue to deliver sustainable and superior selling prices on behalf of the shareholder.
During the 2018/19 period, Masiza revealed, Namdia purchased and sold 303 033 carats which were conducted over 10 sales transactions.
“The average selling price percent was U$552.58 [about N$7,74 million], compared to U$537.25 [about N$7,521.5 million] recorded in the previous financial year. The margins attained averaged 3.9 percent above the De Beers price book,” he said.
He maintained that the figures illustrate the successful implementation of strategies to achieve excellence through continuous improvement of Namdia internal processes.
Despite the extreme challenges facing the Namibian economy, he said, Namdia has continued to outperform its target by achieving an increase of 17 percent in gross profit from the previous financial year.
This positive financial performance Masiza attributed to a well-executed strategy that focused on revenue maximisation for Namibian diamonds, optimisation of the sales strategy, robust internal processes and procedures and the positioning and branding of Namibia in the global market.
He stated the company has proven that it will live up to its mandate to earn valuable foreign currency for the government and ensure that it contributes meaningfully to the country’s socio-economic
development.