(IDEX Online) – World Diamond Council (WDC) executives visited Angola for a series of meetings with stakeholders involved in the Kimberley Process (KP). <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
WDC Acting President Stephane Fischler and Executive Director Marie-Chantal Kaninda made the trip at the invitation of Angolan authorities, marking the first time there has been a WDC mission to Angola outside of a formal KP meeting.
The meetings are part of a larger effort by the diamond industry to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities for African countries as part of their participation in the KP. The trip follows a meeting in Antwerp earlier this year between the WDC, the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) and the President of Angola.
The WDC also recently completed a visit with KP stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
An estimated 60 percent of the world’s diamonds are sourced from African countries. In Angola, diamonds are the country’s second-largest export. For the whole of 2017, diamond exports brought in gross revenues to Angola of $1.1 billion.
“With diamonds being such a critical part of African economies, I cannot underscore enough how critical it is to listen and engage directly not only to help reach a more sustainable global diamond industry, but one that brings back to local communities the social and economic benefits they rightly deserve and ensures fair income for African governments and their trading partners,” said Stephane Fischler, Acting President of the World Diamond Council. “This mission is yet another example of our commitment to this process and to fulfilling the duty of care...