Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds Namibia Factory Inauguration

Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds held the Inauguration Ceremony of its Diamond Manufacturing Factory in Windhoek, the capital of the Republic of Namibia on 15th July, 2022. This event celebrated the beginning of their beneficiation journey in Namibia which began in April 2021.

The operation carries out all the stages of Diamond manufacturing- right from Planning to Polishing of Diamonds primarily mined in Namibia and is looking at building a sustainable business and creating positive impact.

The celebration was studded with distinguished guests from the Namibian & Indian Governments, Namibia Diamond Trading Company [NDTC], De Beers Group and the International Diamond Industry. Tom Alweendo, Hon. Minister of Mines & Energy [Namibia], Paul Rowley, Chairperson NDTC Board, Executive Vice-President - Diamond Trading, De Beers Group, H.E. Prashant Agrawal, High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Namibia and Brent Eiseb, CEO of NDTC addressed the audience. The predominant sentiment was the focus on Beneficiation, Collaboration, Commitment and Sustainable Growth along with an appreciation for Shared Value Systems.

In his keynote address, Guest of Honour, Hon. Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines & Energy, Republic of Namibia, emphasised on the importance of the Diamond Mining in Namibia as it continues to play an important role in the growth of the domestic economy. The Diamond Sector represents 25% of Namibia's exports in terms of value from the mining sector. He said, "therefore as custodians, as stewards of this resource, we need to make sure that we manage this resource with true care and also in the best interest of Namibian people."

 He believes that Namibia should do more than just mining and exporting diamonds and gain maximum value from its key resource by establishing a cutting and polishing industry. Currently there are 11 active cutting and polishing factories in the country and the sector employs over a 900 people. "One of the things we really need to concentrate more on, is to contribute on the skills we require for this industry, from the lowest level of skills to the highest level of skills." he added.