Natural Diamond Council Funding Plan Has Stalled, AWDC Says

By Rob Bates | October 09, 2025

Four months after a global agreement was signed to boost funding for the Natural Diamond Council (NDC), key pledges remain unfulfilled, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said on its website.

In June, six diamond producing countries and three industry groups, including the AWDC, signed the Luanda Accord in Angola’s capital city, committing to underwrite diamond marketing by the NDC. Angola agreed to contribute $8 million, which would be matched by $8 million from De Beers.

“In Luanda, there was real momentum,” AWDC chairman Isi Morsel and vice chairman Ravi Bhansali wrote in an open letter published Thursday on the AWDC website. “Four months later, that momentum is fading.

“The agreements are signed,” they added. “The budgets are pledged. Yet implementation has stalled. The funds have not been transferred. The campaign has not begun. And the clock is ticking.”

NDC chief executive officer David Kellie, who is stepping down at the end of the year, tells JCK: “Each producer country is working with its stakeholders to confirm the mechanism by which they join the NDC and contribute financially to the mission. We expect contributions from Angola to start imminently.”

However, Morsel and Bhansali asserted in their letter that the industry could be squandering a big opportunity.

“We are entering the most crucial season of the year—the global gifting season,” they wrote. “If we don’t act now, we will miss this moment. And in our industry, missed moments don’t just mean lost sales—they mean lost livelihoods [in African diamond producing nations]….

“We understand that bureaucratic processes take time,” they continued. “But time is exactly what we do not have. Every delay weakens the credibility of the commitment we all made together.

“Let us be clear: This is not about assigning blame. It is about living up to a collective commitment. We therefore urge all signatories to the Luanda Accord—producer nations, the Natural Diamond Council, and industry partners worldwide—to take the next decisive step: Release the pledged funds, activate the agreed framework, and begin the campaign.”

Top: At the signing of the Luanda Accord in June (photo courtesy of the Natural Diamond Council)