Our Star of the Week is Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) for having paid tens of millions of dollars to government despite the current economic hardships facing all sectors of the country’s economy. Namdia paid over N$50 million in dividends to the state. The dividends were received by Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, who at the occasion called for more beneficiation of Namibia’s diamonds. Local diamond production for the 2017/2018 financial year was just over 1.8 million carats, of which Namdia and other sightholders were offered 240 000 carats of Namdeb’s run-of-mine production valued at some US$360 125 000 as compared to US$291 800 000 in the 2016/17 financial year.  Namdia, under the able leadership of CEO, Kennedy Hamutenya, also made headlines this week by providing financial incentives for the national football team, the Brave Warriors, to qualify for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). The company committed to paying each player N$10,000 for a win and N$5,000 for a draw in the ongoing AFCON qualifiers.