If Africa ever decides to buy back its diamonds, the structure to do so already exists.
The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) — founded in 2006 in Luanda, Angola — provides the institutional and legal framework for collective action by the continent’s diamond-producing states.
ADPA brings together 19 African member countries to coordinate diamond policy, promote local beneficiation, harmonise legislation, and strengthen Africa’s position in the global diamond value chain.
Over the years, the association has become the main continental body representing producer interests within the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) and international trade forums. It has also developed environmental and governance standards for the sustainable management of Africa’s diamond resources.
Since its founding, ADPA has grown from a small coordination platform to an influential policy institution. Its headquarters, formally inaugurated in Luanda in early 2025, symbolises Africa’s consolidation of control over its diamond governance. The organisation operates through a Council of Ministers, a Committee of Experts, and an Executive Secretariat, providing policy coherence across member states that span from Angola and Namibia to the Central African Republic and Tanzania.
ADPA’s early years focused on harmonising laws and fiscal regimes governing diamond mining. Through workshops and technical forums held in Namibia, Côte d’Ivoire, and other member states, the association encouraged countries to adopt transparent frameworks that integrate artisanal and small-scale mining into formal economies. It has also worked closely with the KPCS to defend Africa’s collective interests in international certification systems.
ADPA’s influence became visible in global trade debates. In 2023, the association formally opposed the G7’s proposed “diamond protocol” — an initiative to restrict the trade of Russian-origin stones — arguing that it threatened to marginalise African producers who were not consulted in its design. The position statement, delivered by ADPA’s Executive Secretary, underscored the group’s determination to safeguard African producers from unilateral trade decisions made outside the continent.
The association has also played a developmental role, hosting “ADPA Mining Week” events and capacity-building programmes in Sierra Leone, Botswana, and Angola. The 10th Ordinary Session of ADPA Mining Week, held in April 2025 in Freetown, focused on the formalisation of alluvial mining, gender inclusion, and responsible sourcing. These initiatives have helped position ADPA as both a governance forum and a developmental partner to member governments.
In 2024, ADPA’s Council of Ministers adopted Africa’s first Sustainable Development Standard for Diamond Mining, ensuring that all producer nations align with ethical, social, and environmental benchmarks. This milestone positioned the organisation as the natural platform for more ambitious collaborative ventures — including financing, marketing, and ownership models that could shift the balance of power in the global diamond industry.
That shift began to take shape in June 2025, when leading diamond-producing nations — Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — met in Luanda to sign the Luanda Accord, creating the Natural Diamond Marketing Fund.
The fund is designed to finance global campaigns promoting the value, authenticity, and sustainability of natural diamonds. It will be managed by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and funded through a one-per-cent contribution from each producer’s annual rough-diamond export value, as verified by the Kimberley Process.
According to the 2024 KPCS Global Summary, Africa’s leading diamond producers exported the following: Angola, 14 million carats worth US$1.41 billion; Botswana, 18 million carats worth US$1.36 billion; Namibia, 2.3 million carats worth US$966 million; South Africa, 5.3 million carats worth US$662 million; Sierra Leone, 574,000 carats worth US$103 million; and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 9.7 million carats worth US$106 million.
Under the one-per-cent formula, these six countries alone could generate more than US$45 million annually for the marketing fund. Combined with contributions from midstream trading hubs such as the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), and India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the fund is projected to raise between US$80 and US$160 million per year once fully operational.
So far, Angola has pledged US$8 million, matched by an equal US$8 million from De Beers Group, which has endorsed the initiative as a partner. The fund’s resources will be used for global generic marketing campaigns to help restore consumer confidence in natural diamonds amid growing competition from synthetics.
More importantly, the Luanda Accord demonstrates that Africa now possesses both the institutional base (ADPA) and the financial coordination mechanism (NDC) needed to collaborate — not just as exporters, but as investors and stakeholders in the global diamond economy.
Analysts argue that, with sustained cooperation, the same model could evolve into a Pan-African equity platform, enabling producer nations to invest jointly in cutting, polishing, jewellery manufacturing, and even retail ventures.
Across the continent, ADPA’s work is increasingly being mirrored by similar initiatives in other mineral sectors. The African Gold Refiners Association (AGRA), established in 2023, is helping gold-producing nations such as Ghana, Tanzania, and Mali to coordinate responsible refining and certification. Meanwhile, the Africa Battery Metals Alliance (ABMA), created in 2024 under the African Union’s Green Minerals Strategy, unites countries including the DRC, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana around a shared beneficiation policy for critical minerals like cobalt, copper, and lithium.
Europe hosts its own industry associations, such as the European Precious Metals Federation (EPMF) and the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), but these bodies are private-sector-led. ADPA remains unique in that it is an intergovernmental organisation — a collective of sovereign states acting in concert to rebalance value creation within the global diamond trade.
The Kimberley Process Secretariat has praised ADPA’s growing role as a “natural progression of Africa’s leadership in transparent and responsible diamond governance.”
As the 2025 implementation of the Luanda Accord advances, the vision of an African-owned, African-driven diamond value chain no longer seems distant. The means, the structure, and the political will are already in place. Africa simply needs to decide when to use them.
