Namibia cautious about taking up a stake in De Beers, local media report
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.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Smart energy storage solutions for efficient, safe, and profitable power.
VISIT SHOWROOM
John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
