Diamantino Azevedo, speaking this Thursday at the inauguration ceremony of a university campus in Lunda Norte, a 60 million dollars investment, by President João Lourenço, noted that children and women are involved in the mining, "and there is a strong presence of foreigners."
"The situation is aggravated by the existence of several illegal diamond trading houses, located in mining and border areas, which operate outside the law, making payments in hard currency and fueling organized illicit trade networks," he denounced.
According to Diamantino Azevedo, these acts jeopardize not only the international sovereignty and international image of Angola and its diamond sector, but also the very sustainability of the industry.
The governor emphasized that illegal diamond mining and trading promote illegal immigration, money laundering, environmental degradation, the spread of disease, child labor, and other "profoundly negative" social consequences.
Given this situation, the minister said, the executive branch will continue "taking the necessary measures to combat these problems and hold their financiers, promoters, and active participants criminally accountable."
Diamantino Azevedo argued that it is necessary to "strengthen mining oversight and control of concession areas, also promoting non-concession areas for formal mining activities under the semi-industrial and industrial regimes, creating conditions to employ many of the young Angolans who are currently dedicated to mining."
For the minister, it is important to replicate successful examples of combating mining in other concessions, such as those recorded in other projects, to protect resources and ensure the traceability of Angolan diamonds, as well as to preserve Angola's credibility in international markets, "ensuring that the diamond sector continues to be a legitimate and sustainable source of national development."
The minister highlighted the important role of Lunda Norte province in national diamond production, currently with 21 mining projects in production, directly employing over 8000 workers.
"In the last two years, the province's average annual production has been set at approximately 1.4 million carats of rough diamonds, representing approximately 12 percent of Angola's total production during this period," he added.
The Lueji-a-Nkonde University campus, located in the city of Dundo and built on an area of approximately 19,000 square kilometers, has 87 classrooms and capacity for 3200 students from the Schools of Economics and Law. It was financed by Endiama, a public diamond company.
