Editor’s Note
This article reports on a visit by Kimberley Process experts to Cameroon, where officials rejected allegations of involvement in illicit diamond trade from the Central African Republic. The government’s statement aims to address international concerns and reaffirm its compliance with global diamond certification standards.
The Minister in charge of Mines yesterday received international experts from the Kimberley Process who are visiting the country.
For the National Permanent Secretary of the Kimberley Process, Kisito Mvogo, Cameroon has nothing to do with the illicit trade of diamonds originating from the Central African Republic. He stated this yesterday following the meeting that the Minister of Mines, Industry, and Technological Development (Minmidt), Ernest Gbwaboubou, granted to the international experts of the Kimberley Process (KP). The meeting took place the day after the publication, on December 2, of a report by the organization Partnership Africa Canada titled: From Conflict to Illegality: Mapping the Trade of Diamonds from the Central African Republic to Cameroon. The said report claims that Cameroon serves as an entry point for conflict diamonds from the CAR to international markets.
Regarding the visit of the KP experts, which runs from December 5 to 10, it is the first of its kind in Cameroon. Their stay will include workshops organized with the Ministry in charge of Mines and other partner administrations. Field visits to diamond-producing areas and sites, particularly in the East region of Cameroon, are scheduled. An evaluation of the system’s activities is also planned at Yaoundé-Nsimalen International Airport with economic actors such as artisanal miners, collectors, buying offices, and civil society.
Furthermore, the control mission was established to ensure the compliance of participating countries with the requirements of the Kimberley Process.
adds the National Permanent Secretary. It is noted that Cameroon, which was admitted to this international observatory on August 14, 2012, is undergoing this exercise for the first time.