Namdia to buy up 15% NDTC stock until 2026 – The Namibian
THE outgoing De Beers chief executive officer Bruce Cleaver has indicated that the Namibia Desert Diamond Company (Namdia)’s desire to at least be buying up to 50% of the Namdeb Holdings diamond production, will have to wait until 2026.
This is when its current agreement that only gives them 15% of the production, which Namdia’s finance executive Sven von Blottnitz had in the past said was not enough.
Cleaver said come 2026, Namdia will then be able to negotiate accordingly.
The outgoing chief executive and his predecessor Al Cook met president Hage Geingob this week in Windhoek, and said because Namibia respects the rule of law and contracts, there is no uncertainty around De Beers’ operations in the country.
Namdia, which is now under the leadership of Alisa Amupolo, had indicated the need for the company to buy up more of Namdeb’s production and have a Namibian company directly dealing on a global scale.
The state formed Namdia a few years ago through a Cabinet resolution, as its own avenue of selling diamonds other than through De Beers channels.
Namibia, through its 50:50 ownership of Namdeb, allocated Namdia 15% of all Namdeb’s production, which it then sells to the outside world.
Von Blottnitz had said Namdia would certainly push to have Namdia’s uptake of Namdeb’s production hiked to 50%, but it would need to be done cautiously.
The government expects to rake in at least N$300 million in dividends from Namdia for the 2023/24 fiscal year.
Last year, Namdia declared and paid N$150 million to the state as its 2022 dividend, which was more than its N$144 million after-tax profit.
Amupolo and the company’s board chairperson Brian Eiseb late last year said the company was still growing and remains on a path to discovering the true value of Namibian diamonds.
Eiseb, however, wants as many diamonds to be sold locally as possible and urged Namdia’s sales team to focus on local companies that should be prioritised in taking up most of the diamonds to keep value addition within the borders.
The company appointed 36 new clients for the next three years during the financial year, who represent all major diamond centres around the world.
For the 2022 financial year, which ended in February, Namdia sold diamonds worth N$1,9 billion, after buying them for N$1,7 billion from the Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC).
This is a massive increase on the sales front from just N$1,1 billion earned for the 2021 financial year.
BOTSWANA DEMANDS MORE
In Botswana, De Beers is in talks with the Botswana government to extend mining rights that expire in 2029, as well as a 2011 diamond sales agreement that expires in June this year.
The talks appear to be going well, although Botswana is demanding a bigger share of profit from Debswana, the unit it co-owns with De Beers that produces more than 95% of the country’s rough diamonds.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Botswana government receives about 80% of Debswana’s revenue through taxes, royalties and dividends.
Botswana also wants greater access and clarity concerning the creation of value for the stones after they leave the country and head for international retailers.
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