The official story of Namibia’s diamond history starts in 1908, when a young railways worker, Zacharias Lewala picks up a large shiny diamond whilst on duty near the country’s southern coastal town of Luderitz.

Little did he know that this nondescript act would set off a chain of events so large, it would change the course of history forever. An avalanche of fortune hunters, whose eyes sparkled in awe of the world’s purest, most precious diamonds,  descended on this desert land.

As a result of the diamond rush, cities grew from the sand, some of which are mere remnants of the past.

The German colonial government, which at the time had control over what was known as Deutsch Sud West Afrika (German South west Africa), declared the diamond rich areas of the country as Forbidden Areas or “Sperrgebiet” and small mining operations set up shop within these areas.

After World War 11, most of these colonial mining companies were amalgamated to form Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM), which held the monopoly of the mining rights within this “Forbidden Area”.

In 2016, the birth of NAMDIA enables Namibia to determine the value of her diamonds and contribute to her socio-economic development.