The News Review:
- LIBERIA: UN reveals suspect diamond deal
- News Room – Full Article
- Dublin Diamond Firm Doubles Operating Loss
- WEST AFRICA: UN raises 2005 appeal by $38 mln to deal with locust…
LIBERIA: UN reveals suspect diamond deal
Reuters AlertNet – Mar 30, 2005
“There is a lot of [diamond] smuggling in Liberia,” said Willie, “and if we are going to control the problem and adhere to the Kimberly Process, then we need corporate investment. “The Kimberley Process is an internationally recognised certification system for rough diamonds which was devised to prevent so-called ‘blood’ or ‘conflict’ diamonds from being sold on the international market. Many of these came from Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. However, Willie hinted that the transitional government, whose members are mainly drawn from the three armed factions that fought each other in Liberia’s 14-year civil war, might still back out of the WAMCO deal. “This is merely a statement of intent, and as far as I am aware, no deal with WAMCO had been ratified by parliament,” Willie said. The deputy minister said he was not privy to the full details of the agreement as he had just returned from official business in South Africa. London International Bank is a private bank that operates from offices in Grosvenor Place in the exclusive Belgravia district of central London.
News Room – Full Article
IDEX Online – Mar 30, 2005
Operating costs for the firm more than doubled during the half-year period to $130,000. Nonetheless, the company said it had enough money to finance current planned expenditure into next year, and reported a bright outlook both for its operations and the global demand for diamonds. “While our focus is rightly on Botswana [where it is involved in a joint venture with De Beers], West Africa remains an important part of our portfolio,” the explorer noted. “We have excellent ground in Sierra Leone and very promising indications in the form of big (5+ carat) stones of what might be there to be found…
Nonetheless, the company said it had enough money to finance current planned expenditure into next year, and reported a bright outlook both for its operations and the global demand for diamonds. “While our focus is rightly on Botswana [where it is involved in a joint venture with De Beers], West Africa remains an important part of our portfolio,” the explorer noted. “We have excellent ground in Sierra Leone and very promising indications in the form of big (5+ carat) stones of what might be there to be found. ” African Diamonds said it has started small scale alluvial production in Guinea and is carrying out trail mining to evaluate diamond quality and recoveries.
Dublin Diamond Firm Doubles Operating Loss
Diamonds.net – Mar 30, 2005
) Operating costs doubled to $245,000 (GBP 130,000. ) The company, chaired by John Teeling, has mining exploration projects in Botswana, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and it said there are sufficient cash reserves to fund current and planned expenditures into 2006. Sierra Leone shows great promise, the company said, with indications of 5 carat or more stones available. The company was formed in 2000, and it expects to become a gemstone diamond producer within three years.
WEST AFRICA: UN raises 2005 appeal by $38 mln to deal with locust…
Reuters AlertNet – Mar 30, 2005
The FAO and World Bank were jointly organising a contingency planning meeting in Bamako, the capital of Mali, on 23 April, to plan this year’s fight against locusts in the Sahel, he added. The first swarms of insects are expected to start arriving in June as the annual rainy season gets under way. UN officials in Dakar warned that donors could not afford to forget West Africa, where Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau recently emerged from devastating civil wars and where an unresolved conflict still smoulders on in Cote d’Ivoire, threatening to push the entire sub-region back into turmoil. They noted that appeals for some $900 million of aid to help victims of the Asian tsunami had been 95 percent met and expressed hope that the international community would match this level of commitment in West Africa. “2005 is a key year,” Boutroue told reporters, noting that crunch elections were scheduled for many countries in the region. “There’s competition for funds and we need to sound the alarm a bit harder. “Presidential elections are due to next month in Togo, while Guinea-Bissau will choose a new president in June and Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia are due to go to the polls in October.