Manuel Imbamba was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 2nd Angolan International Diamond Conference (AIDC) which begins this Wednesday in Saurimo, capital of the diamond-rich province of Lunda Sul, where 1500 national and international delegates are expected, as well as experts and executives from the world's largest mining companies.
The benefits of this wealth at a local level "are still in their infancy" and it is necessary to create a cultural renewal "so that diamonds are not just seen as diamonds" and natural resources also become benefits for the population, said the president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST).
"Lunda Sul has a reputation for being a land of diamonds, for being a rich land, but the people are poor", he said, a contrast that "must be mitigated" by improving services to the communities so that they "understand that they must work, they must cultivate themselves and make the wealth serve the interests of all".
The archbishop highlighted that unemployment rates in the region are extremely high, which, combined with illiteracy, creates imbalances in the province.
While Saurimo is making significant strides in terms of vitality, in the rest of the province, "young people still see mining as the focal point of their lives, they don't want to study, they don't want to work and this needs to be reversed", stated Manuel Imbamba.
"Until we, through education, help young people understand that mining is not the way to achieve their goals, we will continue to be in this suffocation and fall short of our development", added the head of the Catholic Church, considering that initiatives such as AIDC are an incentive to boost all economic sectors in the province.
Manuel Imbamba stressed that "we need to create balance" and more social justice: "we need to provide services, we need to provide development, we need to help people have what they need to prevent young people from getting lost in the forest, they go to the forest because there are no social conditions suitable for them".
"If we create these conditions, I believe that young people will not waste time, days and nights digging and sometimes finding nothing, and when they do find something, it has no impact on their lives," he commented, stressing that wealth exists to fulfill people and is not exhausted in itself.
"The impact must be felt in the transformation of consciousness, in the transformation of mentality so that people understand that wealth must be at the service of the common good, must be at the service of human, social and cultural progress, we are still on the path," he stressed.
The conference this Wednesday, which will continue until Thursday, will discuss topics such as the role of natural and synthetic diamonds in the global market, certification systems, technological innovations in the cutting and polishing industry, social responsibility and financing and insurance for diamond projects.
According to information from the organization, the diamond industry in Angola invested 235 million dollars in social responsibility initiatives between 2017 and the first half of 2023.
Angola, with a production of around nine million carats last year, is the second largest diamond producer in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The industry has its epicentre in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Luanda Sul, where some of the world's largest open-pit diamond mines are located, such as Catoca and Luele.
