NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-08-06Govt, De Beers negotiate sales agreement
Chamwe Kaira
THE Namibian negotiating team working on a new sales agreement between government and De Beers is expected to meet on Thursday this week to prepare a document to be used as a basis for the negotiations.
Mines and Energy minister Isak Katali yesterday said once the document is done, the team will submit it to the Cabinet Technical Committee.
“It (The document) will be presented to the Cabinet Technical Committee which I chair. The negotiations have not started,” Katali said.
In May 2011, government and De Beers signed a shareholder agreement which paved the way for a 50% government stake in De Beers Marine Namibia and the restructuring of Namdeb Diamond Corporation.
De Beers and government then formed a 50/50 Namdeb Holdings (Pty) which owns 100% of the two subsidiaries - Namdeb Land and Namdeb Sea (De Beers Marine Namibia).
The Botswana government owns a 15% stake in De Beers which means that the country is indirectly benefiting from the Namibian diamonds.There were reports last week that the Namibian government was also seeking to have access to Botswana diamonds through De Beers.
The other De Beers shareholder, Anglo American owns an 85% stake after buying out the Oppenheimer family’s 40% for US$1,5 billion. The deal brought to an end the Oppenheimer family’s 80-year ownership in the world’s largest diamond mining company.
The stake acquired by Anglo American in De Beers was initially offered to Namibian government. The State, however, turned the offer down.
Katali denied though that part of the meeting was to discuss a new shareholder agreement after some Cabinet ministers ostensibly floated the idea of acquiring shares in De Beers to access Botswana diamonds.
“In fact it will be negotiations on a new sales agreement and not a new shareholders agreement,” Katali said.
Asked if the government was happy with the current agreement with De Beers he said: “Its a 50/50 agreement, we should be happy.”
De Beers mines in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa.
Mines and Energy minister Isak Katali yesterday said once the document is done, the team will submit it to the Cabinet Technical Committee.
“It (The document) will be presented to the Cabinet Technical Committee which I chair. The negotiations have not started,” Katali said.
In May 2011, government and De Beers signed a shareholder agreement which paved the way for a 50% government stake in De Beers Marine Namibia and the restructuring of Namdeb Diamond Corporation.
De Beers and government then formed a 50/50 Namdeb Holdings (Pty) which owns 100% of the two subsidiaries - Namdeb Land and Namdeb Sea (De Beers Marine Namibia).
The Botswana government owns a 15% stake in De Beers which means that the country is indirectly benefiting from the Namibian diamonds.There were reports last week that the Namibian government was also seeking to have access to Botswana diamonds through De Beers.
The other De Beers shareholder, Anglo American owns an 85% stake after buying out the Oppenheimer family’s 40% for US$1,5 billion. The deal brought to an end the Oppenheimer family’s 80-year ownership in the world’s largest diamond mining company.
The stake acquired by Anglo American in De Beers was initially offered to Namibian government. The State, however, turned the offer down.
Katali denied though that part of the meeting was to discuss a new shareholder agreement after some Cabinet ministers ostensibly floated the idea of acquiring shares in De Beers to access Botswana diamonds.
“In fact it will be negotiations on a new sales agreement and not a new shareholders agreement,” Katali said.
Asked if the government was happy with the current agreement with De Beers he said: “Its a 50/50 agreement, we should be happy.”
De Beers mines in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa.
