Angola Picks Trans Atlantic to Oversee Tenders

RAPAPORT… Angola’s national diamond-trading company has appointed Dubai-based Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) to manage its tenders as the African country continues to reform its mining industry.

Sodiam has also chosen First Element to carry out diamond boiling, it said last week. Several bidders took part in a selection process that began in May 2021.

While currently known for mining, Angola is planning to turn the country into a global diamond-trading center. To this end, it aims to build a bourse in the capital, Luanda, and expand its tender business.

The bidding process “reinforces Angola’s and Sodiam’s commitment to transparency in the scope of the ongoing reforms in the diamond subsector,” said Eugénio Bravo da Rosa, the chairman of Sodiam’s board of directors.

Tenders and boiling are “important services for the future Angola Diamond Exchange,” Sodiam noted. It received a number of applications from candidates in Angola as well as in South Africa, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, the US and Israel.

TAGS, which has held many rough tenders in the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), said its experience would “assure the successful establishment of a world-class facility in Angola, and provide the Angolan government with the opportunity to develop a global customer base.”


Image: Rough diamonds. (Trans Atlantic Gem Sales)