Angola’s revenue from diamond production grows

Angola’s income from diamond production has increased by 50 percent this year as compared with that of last year, the official newspaper ‘Jornal de Angola’ reported on Thursday. Angola’s Vice Minister of Geology and Mines Antonio Carlos Sumbula was quoted as saying that the Angolan government hopes in this year to make over US $600 million from the production of diamonds. The record revenue is primarily because the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) have guaranteed security in the diamond extracting zones and recovered almost all the regions formerly held by UNITA rebels, Sumbula said. He added that in 1999 diamond production in the zones controlled by the government was less than US$ 200 million.