Angola is pursuing a 20 to 30 percent stake in De Beers, the diamond mining and trading company currently owned by Anglo American plc, in a move that may reshape the political and economic geometry of diamond resource governance across Southern Africa. This development, revealed by a senior official from Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources at the recent Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, represents a strategic recalibration of Angola’s earlier proposal to secure a controlling stake in the firm.
The bid arrives in the wake of Anglo American’s announcement that De Beers is under strategic review following declining rough diamond sales and growing competition from synthetic alternatives. In 2025, Anglo American confirmed that diamond output had dropped significantly, prompting the potential divestment. Amid this shifting terrain, Angola initially tabled a majority stake offer in October 2025 but now signals a preference for a substantial minority stake in order to mitigate exposure to volatility in the luxury commodities market.
“Taking the majority stake within luxury commodities is very dangerous because it depends on the market,” stated Paulo Tanganha, Angola’s National Director of Mineral Resources. “So to de-risk that, we have to have a portion that is sustainable for our economy. And that range is between 20 and 30 percent. We are happy about that.”
This recalibrated position, according to Angolan authorities, is informed by a long-term strategy to secure value from mineral wealth while avoiding economic overdependence on a highly cyclical sector. Angola’s two state entities Endiama and Sodiam are expected to act as acquisition vehicles for the proposed stake, though the funding mechanism has not yet been disclosed.
Importantly, Angola’s ambitions intersect with broader intra-African negotiations. Botswana, which currently holds a 15 percent stake in De Beers via Debswana, is also reportedly pursuing a majority acquisition. Senior officials from Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana are involved in ongoing closed-door talks with Angola aimed at fostering a collaborative framework that equitably reflects each country’s interests.
“There is a saying: together we are stronger. That is the way we are doing it. And if my neighbour is suffering, I also suffer. So we have to be together and fight together as a team,” Tanganha added.
This regional alignment speaks to a deeper continental aspiration for collective agency over natural resources and signals a shift away from historically extractive models of foreign-dominated ownership in the diamond industry. The discussions reflect a pan-African approach to resource sovereignty and economic diplomacy, with participating countries striving to move beyond zero-sum competition in favour of shared development outcomes.
The recent discovery of a new kimberlite cluster in Angola, the first in three decades, by the joint venture between De Beers and Endiama further amplifies the country’s geological appeal. Kimberlite is the volcanic rock most commonly associated with primary diamond deposits, and this find enhances Angola’s stature in the global diamond landscape, where it is already the fourth largest producer by value.
While geopolitical complexities persist, the negotiations are rooted in a broader vision to reframe Africa’s place in the global value chain for natural resources. Angola’s recalibrated bid and the broader regional engagement underscore an emerging continental strategy to forge African-led pathways in a sector long dominated by external interests.
At a moment when synthetic diamonds are reshaping the global market, African diamond-producing states appear increasingly poised to assert greater influence, not merely through extraction but through governance, ownership, and downstream value retention. These developments invite a reconsideration of Africa’s mineral economies beyond the frame of commodity dependency and into one of equitable participation, resilience, and regional solidarity.
