BICC (Bonn International Centre for Conversion) FOCUS 12: The Republic of Angola’s rough diamond mine1 production for 2011 is valued at US $1.16 billion. The latest facts and figures available rank Angola in the group of the five most important diamond producers worldwide, headed by Botswana. Angola was a founding member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), launched in 2003 as an initiative of governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the diamond industry, endorsed by the United Nations (UN). Its main aim is to certify diamonds as “conflict-free” by the respective governments to thereby stop the circulation of ‘conflict diamonds’. Angola was strongly involved in the establishment of the certification scheme, largely due to its own experience with ‘conflict diamonds’. In 2002, Angola concluded a decade-long civil war opposing the government against Jonas Savimbi and UNITA, a rebel force that received revenues from diamond mining. This experience directly informed the government’s political strategy at that time. The KP is currently under review. Its 10th anniversary takes place under the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa. It coincides with a formal review process, agreed to in November 2011, during which the core objectives, definitions and functioning of the KPCS during 2012/13 will be examined.
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