Namibia has become the latest government to sign the Luanda Accord, while India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) are set to become new members of the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) on May 1.

The Luanda Accord held its second high-level meeting – since its June, 2025 inception – at this week’s Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 in Cape Town.

Namibia now joins other formal signatories to the Luanda Accord, namely Angola, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

By signing, Namibia commits to supporting the natural diamond industry through an agreed contribution – 1% of its yearly revenue from the sale of rough diamonds –  to the marketing and promotion of the sale of natural diamonds through the NDC.

This comes as natural diamond prices have decreased while demand for lab-grown – synthetic – diamonds has grown.

With a diamond industry dating back to 1908, Namibia is the fifth largest diamond producer in the world by value.

African diamond producer nations Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Sierra Leone, the DRC, and De Beers – the largest diamond company on the continent and the second-largest in the world – were the initial signatories to the Luanda Accord at a 2025 meeting in the Angolan capital.

South Africa has, however, not yet made a financial contribution as envisaged by the accord.

The country has licensed the recovery and sale of rough diamonds to private companies and not the State, which means it has to get buy-in from the local diamond industry and approval from the Cabinet before committing to the initiative.

South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in August last year that Cabinet had approved that the diamond industry be requested to contribute 1% of their yearly revenues generated from rough diamond sales to support marketing South Africa’s real diamonds.

This has been met with resistance from some small and medium-sized miners, given the current weak market.

Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas Diamantino Azevedo used the Indaba meeting to set out his country’s proposed mechanism to garner its 1% contribution.

He said that the Angolan government had already contributed $8-million to the NDC, which was equivalent to 0.5% of its 2024 diamond revenue – “with the commitment to do more and better”.

One proposed mechanism to collect the outstanding 0.5% was through levying an additional fee on rough diamonds.

Azevedo noted that the natural diamond market had seen “profound structural changes”, with significant reduction in prices per carat.

This had been driven by changing consumer behaviour, global economic uncertainty and “above all, the rapid expansion of synthetics in the world market”.

He said this demanded “a concerted action plan” from Africa’s natural diamond miners to increase the demand for natural diamonds, through, for example, the generic marketing efforts of the NDC.

“The challenges in the market are real, but not impossible. Our effectiveness depends on a single factor – unity of purpose and action.”

Azevedo also appealed to those countries that had not yet made their financial contributions to do so as soon as possible.

NDC to Expand
India’s GJEPC and the NDC this week signed a memorandum of understanding that sets out a pathway for GJEPC to become an NDC member by May 1.

Membership is subject to agreement on the level and structure of financial contribution, followed by completion of legal and regulatory requirements.

Additionally, the DMCC signed a letter of intent to become a member by May 1.

DMCC is the world’s largest diamond trading hub.