September 2006
Angola has proposed the establishment of an African Diamonds Producers Association, for the purpose of sharing information and experiences.
The producers will certainly use their combined power to negotiate better prices and increase local polishing factories. We hope that this group will take away the unfortunate (and inaccurate) image that all African diamonds are blood diamonds, and say that, if managed wisely, natural resources can benefit the local populations in impoverished countries.
The association would include diamond producers like Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Lesotho, Namibia, Tog and Zimbabwe.
