Policy-Making, Legislation and Regulation

Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy

The Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy is the key policy-making institution for the industry and is headed by the Minister of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy. The industry is governed by the Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act of 1992 (Act No.33 of 1992) and the Diamond Act of 1999 (Act No.13 of 1999). There is no explicit diamond policy. Namibia is a member of the Kimberley Process.

Diamond Board

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy, the Diamond Board of Namibia is classified as a non-commercial State-Owned Enterprise with its own board of directors. The Diamond Board exists to implement and regulate policies towards the diamond industry including the diamond mining and diamond cutting and polishing industries.

Government Diamond Valuator

The Government Diamond Valuator (GDV) is a private company contracted by Government to provide an independent check that diamonds mined in Namibia are properly valued and priced before they are sold. Gem Diamonds Namibia was last awarded the five-year contract to act as GDV in 2019.

Major Operations

Namdeb Holdings

Namdeb Holdings – a 50:50 partnership between the Government of Namibia and De Beers created in 1994 and restructured in 2011 – is Namibia’s dominant producer of rough diamonds. It comprises Namdeb Diamond Corporation (the land-based mining operations) and De Beers Marine Namibia (the offshore mining operations). Until recently Debmarine Namibia operated seven mining vessels in the Atlantic 1 licence area: mv Mafuta, mv Grand Banks, the chartered mv Coral Sea, mv Debmar Pacific, mv Debmar Atlantic, mv !Gariep, and mv Benguela Gem as well as one exploration and sampling vessel, the mv SS Nujoma. However, in early 2025 it was decided to retire mv Grand Banks and mv Coral Sea three years early. At the same time a new fourth generation seabed crawler was due to come into service in June 2025.  Relations between Government and De Beers are governed by marketing agreements with fixed terms. The most recent marketing agreement between Government and De Beers was signed in 2016 and is the longest ever covering a ten-year period. In 2021 the life of Namdeb’s onshore operations was extended to 2042. Namdeb Holdings is a member of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia.

In 2024 Debmarine Namibia produced 73% of all Namdeb production while onshore production accounted for 27%. More information can be found on the Anglo American and De Beers websites.

Namibia Diamond Trading Company

The Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) is a 50:50 joint venture between the Government of Namibia and De Beers. The NDTC buys all the diamonds produced by Namdeb Holdings, sorts and values them and sells them to the DTC in Botswana (a joint venture between the Government of Botswana and De Beers) and Namibia Desert Diamonds (NAMDIA). NDTC sold to eight sightholders during 2015-20.

Namibia Desert Diamonds

Namibia Desert Diamonds (NAMDIA) is a wholly Government-owned commercial public enterprise that buys 15% of Namdeb Holding’s “run of production” by value from the NDTC and sells them outside the De Beers marketing channels to independent buyers. NAMDIA sold to 16 selected clients during 2019-21. Namdia produces an annual report which can be found on its website.

Independent Diamond Mining Companies

At present, three independent (not related to De Beers) diamond mining companies are active: Samicor Diamond Mining (offshore), Diamond Fields Namibia (offshore), and Sperrgebiet Diamond Mining (onshore and offshore after buy in from Global Emerging Markets Group in Lewcor which purchased Elizabeth Bay mine from Namdeb in October 2020).