WINDHOEK (Reuters) -Namibia will carefully consider whether or not to acquire a stake in De Beers as the diamond price slump persists, local media reported on Monday, citing the country’s deputy prime minister.
The diamond giant has been put up for sale by Anglo American as the parent company restructures its portfolio to focus on copper and iron ore. Anglo said on September 9 that it was pursuing a merger with Canada’s Teck Resources to create a copper heavyweight.
De Beers had by June attracted interest from at least six prospective investors, while Angola’s state diamond company Endiama announced on September 24 it had bid for a minority stake in the company.
Angola has said it wants a broad ownership structure for De Beers, which would include Botswana, South Africa and Namibia – countries where the company operates.
The Namibian government and De Beers each own 50% of Namdeb Holdings, which produced 2.2 million carats of rough diamonds in 2024, about 9% of De Beers’ group output last year.
Namibia’s Deputy Prime Minister Natangwe Ithete, who is also responsible for mines, told online financial news outlet The Brief that the country needed to assess the diamond industry, whose prospects have been dimmed by synthetic diamonds and weak demand.
“To be honest, the diamond industry is going down. It is not a secret that the industry is under pressure and affected by the so-called lab diamonds, the synthetic diamonds,” Ithete said.
“So this is something we need to study very carefully, to determine whether it is worth pursuing or not,” he added.
Neighbouring Botswana, which holds a 15% stake in De Beers, is also pursuing a controlling interest in the company.
Anglo American values De Beers at about $4.9 billion, after recording $3.5 billion in impairments over the past two years, but current market pressures may lead to lower offers.
(Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by Nelson Banya and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
