Namibia’s Mines and Energy Minister, Tom Alweendo, Tuesday urged leaders within the diamond industry to pioneer new dawn for a better and balanced share of the benefits derived from diamonds.
Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy Wednesday issued a statement derived from the speech Alweendo delivered at the 2019 Botswana Diamond Conference held in Gaborone on Tuesday.
Alweendo said communities and governments must be total partners in this new dawn, including becoming budding marketeers of diamonds, and telling the story to consumers around the world about the good that diamonds do.
“The conventional model where corporations pay for advertisements is no longer sufficient. Our people, employees and communities, may be better marketeers than the conventional model,” he said
According to Alweendo, governments can no longer just rely on the rankings and ratings of how investor-friendly they are, but also look at retaining such investment.
Alweendo said that governments must accelerate technology development in the industry if they are to succeed in managing the challenges presented by issues such as lab-grown diamonds, consumer demand for carbon-neutral production, as well as increasing consumer demand for greater evidence of the benefits of diamonds to communities.
“The evidence of the benefits that diamonds have brought to our two countries is overwhelming. We can, however, not rest on our laurels to unlock greater value for our people,” he said. Enditem
