The Russian-Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev called for a free-flow in the supply of rough diamonds in southern Africa, saying it was the only way to stimulate growth in the industry. Speaking at an international diamond conference in Windhoek to discuss the future of the industry, said Africans were capable to cut and polish diamonds in their own countries. "A local diamond industry in this region can only develop when rough diamonds are supplied across the board and not only to the members of an
exclusive club of ‘yes-men’," he said.
South Africa’s De Beers controls roughly 70 % of the world’s diamond supplies and has a centralized sales system whereby diamonds from all over the world are sold together in a mix. Leviev last year opened a diamond-polishing factory in Namibia, the world’s sixth-largest diamond producer, and represents the first real competition to De Beers, which has dominated the industry for decades.
South Africa on Tuesday paved the way for greater powers to redirect a higher proportion of rough diamonds to local cutters and polishers by passing a new law. Most rough diamonds from Africa, said Leviev who owns a number of diamond interests in Angola, Namibia and South Africa, were shipped "far away to countries for value addition and this should change."
Experts noted the trend to do value adding such as cutting and polishing of diamonds in the countries where diamonds are produced, i.e. in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa instead of in Amsterdam, Brussels, or London. Leviev opened his new venture, Africa’s largest diamond-polishing factory in Luanda, Angola on Thursday.