Official diamond exports rise in Kinshasa following ban in Brazzaville

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) registered a 30 percent rise in the volume of diamonds it exported through official trade between 10 and 30 July following an international ban on diamonds in the neighbouring country of the Republic of Congo. "Exports went from [US} $60 million to $81 million," Eugène Diomi Ndongala, the DRC’s minister for mines, told IRIN last week. The authorities in the Kimberley Process had suspended the ROC on 9 July following a report on irregularities. The ROC government could not account for massive discrepancies between rough diamond exports and the absence of reported production or of diamond imports. The Kimberley Process was launched by representatives of African diamond-producing countries on 1 January 2003 and supported by NGOs. It has developed an international certification scheme to prevent conflict diamonds from entering legitimate markets. On the same day as the ROC suspension, the government of the DRC announced it would open offices in three diamond-producing areas to further encourage official exports. The offices are to be located in Goma in North-Kivu, Bukavu in South-Kivu, and Kisangani in the province of Orientale. Besides a reduction of illegal trade through the ROC there is another reason for the recent increase in official exports in the DRC, said Diomi. During the country’s various conflicts various factions produced diamonds, shipping them through non-official channels. "A large proportion of the diamonds produced in areas [controlled by former rebel groups that are now in government] are now going through official channels," he said. However, a large part of the diamond production in DRC remains illicit, said Diomi. He estimates $450 million worth a year.