Angola has set its sights on becoming the world’s second-largest diamond producer by 2030, with the government unveiling a strategy built on structural reforms, expanded foreign investment and a systematic push for supply-chain transparency — and it chose Singapore, the centre of the global diamond trade, rather than Luanda, to deliver that message.
Secretary of State for Mineral Resources Jânio Corrêa Victor set out the blueprint at the 41st World Diamond Congress of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses in Singapore. He said the ambition to reach second place globally will rest on structural reforms, stronger investment flows and deeper partnerships with leading international mining groups.
Angola currently ranks third worldwide in diamond production by both volume and value, a position that reflects steady growth in recent years. The government is now framing that growth as anchored in transparency, sustainability and community value creation, rather than pure output — a narrative calibrated for institutional capital subject to ESG screening and concerns over provenance.
Corrêa Victor highlighted the Luele mine in Lunda Sul province as the primary driver of forecast production growth. Luele is expected to underpin Angola’s target of lifting output towards 17 million carats by 2027. He also pointed to the future Chiri mine, operated by Rio Tinto, as an additional growth vector, signalling the state’s readiness to place major foreign partners at the core of its expansion strategy.
Alongside production plans, the Secretary of State stressed that Angola’s diamond sector contributes to employment, vocational training and the development of producing communities. He cited initiatives including the Saurimo Diamond Development Hub and the Brilhante Foundation, which aim to build local cutting and polishing capacity and increase value addition inside Angola rather than offshore. For investors, these hubs indicate a move towards a more complete domestic value chain and potentially more diversified revenue streams.
Corrêa Victor used the Singapore forum to anchor Angola’s transparency narrative in recognisable international standards. He underscored Angola’s participation in the Kimberley Process as the baseline for conflict-free certification, and linked this to Angola’s membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which requires public reporting of revenues and governance practices across the extractive sector.
He also pointed to Angola’s partnership with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), a key reference in global diamond grading and education. Together, these affiliations are designed to reassure buyers that Angolan stones move through a traceable, auditable chain from mine to market.
On the commercial side, Corrêa Victor highlighted SODIAM, the Angola Diamond Trading Company, and the Angola Diamond Exchange as strategic tools for strengthening traceability and transparency in marketing. These platforms centralise sales and create consistent data trails, which can support compliance with tightening responsible-sourcing rules in the United States, the European Union and Asia.
Angola also reaffirmed its alignment with the Luanda Accord, a regional initiative signed in 2025 that channels 1% of annual rough diamond revenues from signatory governments and De Beers into an international fund administered by the Natural Diamond Council. Corrêa Victor said Angola contributes 1% of its rough diamond revenues under the accord to promote natural diamonds globally — spending designed to strengthen brand differentiation at a time when laboratory-grown stones are gaining market share and price transparency is intensifying.
To sustain momentum, Corrêa Victor invited the global diamond community to the International Mining and Diamond Conference in Luanda in November, positioning Angola as a convening hub for producers, traders and buyers. For investors, the combination of mine expansion, codified transparency standards and regional promotion funding signals a more structured approach to sector development.
The next key indicators will be how quickly Luele ramps up production, how the Chiri project advances under Rio Tinto, and whether Angola’s exchange and reporting systems deliver the level of disclosure that long-term capital increasingly demands.
Source: FurtherAfrica / Original article: furtherafrica.com
