By Andrew Chokpeleh
Freetown, 2nd February 2026- Sierra Leone’s diamond industry has entered a period of sharp contraction, with exports and revenues plummeting to historic lows. By 2025, official figures show exports had fallen from approximately 570,000 carats to just 121,000 carats a staggering reduction of more than 300%.
The financial impact has been equally severe: revenues that once stood at about 102 million US dollars dropped to only 19.05 million US dollars for the year, underscoring the depth of the crisis.
The Director General of Precious Minerals Trading at the National Minerals Agency warned that this downturn has placed heavy pressure on Sierra Leone’s fiscal space. With royalties and taxes shrinking, the government is struggling to fund essential public services and community programs. He stressed that the situation has triggered urgent calls for stronger revenue management mechanisms capable of promoting fiscal stability during periods of market volatility.
Beyond the numbers, the Director General emphasized that the diamond sector’s challenges are compounded by the absence of a clear, universal definition of conflict diamonds. He argued that ambiguity in classification reduces the value of the resource and undermines investor confidence. A precise definition, he said, would help resolve many of the sector’s structural challenges, particularly those linked to human rights violations and illicit governance abuses associated with diamond revenues.
The Kimberley Process established to safeguard human rights and prevent diamond revenues from fueling illegal activities remain central to these debates. Civil society actors are pressing for reforms that would strengthen oversight and accountability. Jaff Bamenjo, Coordinator of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, noted that while the European Union provides significant support to the coalition, its activities remain independent. The coalition, comprising 14 member organizations across 10 African countries, has made the push for a universal definition of conflict diamonds a priority.
Bamenjo explained that conflict diamonds are often identified through associated human rights abuses, including forced labor and violence. He acknowledged that tensions within the Kimberley Process itself have sometimes seen members attack one another, with diamond revenues allegedly used to fund such actions. Despite these challenges, he said the coalition is determined to confront and resolve the issues undermining the sector.
The meeting of coalition members was convened to find practical solutions to the region’s diamond-related problems. But the financial data from Sierra Leone underscores the urgency: without stronger fiscal safeguards and clearer governance frameworks, the country risks further erosion of one of its most critical revenue streams.
