Namibia’s diamond industry’s direct fiscal contribution declined sharply in 2024, according to Anglo American’s newly released Tax and Economic Contribution Report 2024.
The report, which tracks payments to governments across Anglo American’s global operations—including its De Beers diamond business—shows a year-on-year drop in both taxes and royalties paid in Namibia.
“In Namibia, De Beers’ total taxes and royalties borne and collected decreased from US $234 million in 2023 to US $136 million in 2024,” the report says.
Converted at around N$18.5 per US dollar, that represents a fall from approximately N$4.33 billion to N$2.51 billion in just a year.
The report further says taxes and royalties borne in-country declined from US $144 million in 2023 to US $63 million in 2024.
This equates to a drop from N$2.66 billion to N$1.17 billion.
The overall economic contribution—including wages, local procurement, and community investments—also softened:
According to the report, total economic contribution in Namibia, including wages, procurement and social investment, fell from US $611 million in 2023 to US $545 million in 2024.
That’s a decline from roughly N$11.3 billion to N$10.1 billion.
These figures reflect the performance of Namdeb Holdings, the 50:50 joint venture between the Namibian government and De Beers, which operates both land-based mines and Debmarine Namibia’s offshore recovery fleet. Production volumes in 2024 fell slightly to 2.2 million carats from 2.3 million in 2023—a result De Beers has linked to “planned value-focused production adjustments” aimed at balancing market demand.
