Meetings Cement Sierra Leone-Belgium Diamond Ties
June 28, 05 by Albert Robinson
Belgium and Sierra Leone have cemented closer ties following two days of meetings in the West African country.
Entitled Antwerp African Diamond Days, diamond industry representatives from the two countries held a series of seminars, meetings with government officials and other networking meetings.
Alhaji Deen, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Mines said: “We are pleased with the association with Belgium we have developed in recent years and we would like even closer links. Sierra Leone invites diamond firms to come and invest in diamond mining in addition to their trading activities. The Sierra Leone government has developed a legislative framework for this purpose that offers legal certainty for investors.”
Sierra Leone’s rough diamond exports rose from just $1 million in 1999 to $126 million in 2004 as the country emerged from the conflict diamond era which fuelled its vicious internecine conflict. Antwerp handles around 90 percent of diamonds mined in Sierra Leone.
