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De Beers, Namibia sign landmark diamond-sales agreement

January 30, 2007

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Windoek, Namibia—The Government of Namibia and De Beers have announced an agreement to secure the sale of the country's diamonds through the Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) until 2013 and establish a joint marketing venture.

In addition to diamond mining, the agreement will now extend into diamond marketing with the establishment of a fifty-fifty joint venture, Namibia Diamond Trading Co. (NDTC). This new entity will be responsible for the valuing, sorting, selling and marketing of diamonds produced by the Namdeb Diamond Corp. Ltd. (Namdeb), which is owned by the government and De Beers Centenary AG.

"With the signing of this agreement today, we have further deepened our partnership with De Beers to ensure that diamonds contribute even further to the economic success of Namibia," Namibia's Minister of Mines and Energy Erkki Nghimtina said during the signing ceremony.

Diamonds play a key role in the Namibian economy, accounting for 40 percent of the country's export revenue, 7 percent of government revenue and around 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The country produces about $700,000 worth of diamonds annually and employs almost 3,200. The De Beers family of companies supports more than 40,000 in the country. Namdeb contributes about $300,000 in corporate social-development projects annually in Namibia and is the largest corporate-responsibility contributor to the socioeconomic development of the country.

With a commitment to create a sustainable downstream diamond industry in Namibia, the NDTC will sell rough diamonds to local cutting and polishing factories as well as export to DTC International. Working with Namibian-based diamond manufacturers, the NDTC will also support local marketing initiatives. The new agreement ensures that up to $300 million worth of diamonds will be available locally by 2009, representing close to 5 percent of the country's GDP.

"Today's agreement is further testimony to the strength of our 13-year partnership and a demonstration of De Beers' commitment to working together with government to ensure that the country's most valuable natural resource has been turned into sustainable wealth that touches the lives of all Namibians," De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said.
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