At the end of December 2023, it was 3,305.79 carats, or half the quantity recorded last year.
6,219.81 carats of diamonds were produced in 2024 in Cameroon: This figure was revealed on January 16, 2025 in Yaounde during a budget session of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). The meeting was chaired by the Acting Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development Fuh Calistus Gentry
This volume of diamonds records an increase of 2,914.02 carats compared to the 3,305.79 carats produced in 2023. This production which has increased by almost 100% year-on-year, has provided the State with revenues amounting to nearly 120 million FCFA in 2024.
The meeting also served as a framework for the Permanent National Secretariat of the Kimberly Process (SNPPK) to take stock of the past year 2024. Concretely, over the past year, it has ensured internal controls, the fight against trafficking and smuggling of precious mineral substances and the improvement of the national production of rough diamonds. Which has not been a long quiet river.
Because according to the Coordinator of the technical secretariat of the national secretariat of the Snppk, Daniel Mackaire Eloung, the structure has struggled to achieve its objectives, due to the difficulties it has faced. These include, among others, “the obsolescence of certain organic texts in light of the new orientations of the principles and requirements of the Scpk and the new missions assigned to the Snppk including the traceability of gold from semi-mechanized artisanal mining. Added to this is the excessively high level of customs duties on the export of raw diamonds which continues to weigh down exports ,” said Daniel Mackaire Eloung.
It should be recalled that for this year 2025 which has just started, the Snppk benefits from a budget of 1.136 billion FCFA, an increase of 0.128 billion FCFA compared to 1.008 billion FCFA in 2024. “We are satisfied because the Kimberly process is playing its role well, even at the sub-regional level. This has resulted, for example, in the revival of the official marketing of diamonds from the Central African Republic. In 2025, Cameroon intends to make its voice heard internationally regarding the traceability of diamonds ,” noted Fuh Calistus Gentry.
