The Angolan government is promoting the development of diverse economic sectors in order to expand its economy beyond the narrow hydrocarbons sector Luanda has historically depended on. Hydrocarbons are by far the most significant component of the Angolan economy, responsible for approximately 96 percent of the country's export earnings. But essentially all of Angola's hydrocarbon resources are located offshore. Thus the hydrocarbons sector is akin to an enclave economy, with little contribution to the everyday lives of ordinary Angolans. Luanda's decision to turn to diamonds is deliberate. Diamonds are Angola's second-largest economic sector. Although diamond exports generate only 2 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings, the strategic potential of diamonds is significant. Angolan diamonds account for an estimated 7 percent of the world's diamond production by volume and 8 percent by value. The Angolan diamond sector has been underdeveloped due to the country's civil war and, until recently, inadequate infrastructure that limited access to the resources.
Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are currently meeting in Dundo to discuss the conflict-free development of diamonds found in their countries. The town is located in Angola's Lunda Norte province, where alluvial diamond mining occurs. The Angolan government has been supporting infrastructure initiatives that enable greater development of the diamond resources found there. Angola's state diamond mining company, Endiama Mining, has relocated its headquarters to Dundo. The Angolan Ministry of Energy is planning to build a new thermal power plant in Dundo and refurbish an existing hydroelectric power plant in Lunda Norte to support rural mines such as those at Laurica, Calonda, Fucauma and Tchegi. Roads have been upgraded in Lunda Norte and connect the remote and otherwise undeveloped province to Angola's refurbished Benguela rail line that travels between the Congolese border at Luau and the Atlantic Ocean port at Benguela city. While diamond mining in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is largely conflict-free, this is a recent development and Luanda and Kinshasa are less concerned about the humanitarian welfare of those mining their country's diamonds than about making sure the resource is not used to restart either a proxy conflict against each other or a civil war within either country.
