The Saurimo Diamond Development Pole, approved by Presidential decree no. 36/19, of 25 March and budgeted at 77 million dollars, was presented this Monday in Luanda in a ceremony chaired by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas.
The infrastructure, which is being built in an area of over 305 thousand square meters and is expected to be completed in November, should bring together in space companies related to the mining economy, with the focus on the "diamond value chain".
According to the authorities, the venture, with a current physical execution of almost 50 per cent, should bring together "an adequate and necessary infrastructure for the promotion and dynamization of the development of diamond activity".
The pole, an investment under the responsibility of the Empresa Nacional de Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (Sodiam), which will also ensure its management, will be divided into three main areas, namely commercial - consisting of shops, restaurants, banks, among others - industrial and a hybrid plant.
A diamond valuation and cutting training centre, under the responsibility of Sodiam, and another specialised in geology, studies and projects of the National Diamond Company of Angola will be installed in the pole.
The industrial area is composed of 26 lots of different sizes for the implementation of factories and industries in the mining industry, where public and private companies that develop the mining activity "may compete for space".
According to SODIAM, among the requirements for space acquisition are proof of financial capacity and a letter of intent addressed to the public company expressed interest.
For the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino de Azevedo, this project "not only marks the development of the value chain of the national diamond sector, but it is also a much needed investment in business development outside of greater Luanda, also because in this venture various types of jobs will be created for Angolans, from the cutting of diamonds to commercial services," can be read in the statement sent to VerAngola.
For Bravo da Rosa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SODIAM, E.P., the achievement of the Pole "means an increasing professionalization and expansion of the diamond industry in Angola, and a very relevant step for SODIAM's object in the implementation of the policies of a strategic sector for the State".
Lunda Sul province, in the east of the country, is responsible for the annual production of about 90 percent of the national rough diamonds.
