AYV News, May 20, 2025
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, who also doubles as the Chairman of the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), Julius Daniel Mattai has addressed the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), in Dubai where he stressed the need for non-politization of the Scheme.
While chairing the ADPA Pre-KPCS Intersessional Meeting, Minister Mattai, who led the Sierra Leone delegation, noted the gathering was significant because it reinforced their vision and resolve to see that the diamond market could serve as a catalyst for global peace and development. He mentioned that, among other things, the mandate of the KPCS as enshrined in the United Nations Resolution and the Interlaken Declaration was to provide a regulatory framework for rough diamonds.
Minister Mattai also discussed the importance of global peace and stability, but stressed that the KPCS should not be used as a platform for settling geopolitical conflicts. He urged the participants to remain focused on the vision and objectives behind the KPCS’s formation adding that deviating from the vision would risk the Scheme’s unity and credibility and undermine its effectiveness to fight against conflict diamonds.
On the margins of the visit, Minister Mattai held bilateral talks with the Chairman of KPCS, H.E Ahmed Bin Sulayem where they both discussed wide range of issues on the global diamond market, Sierra Leone’s role in KPCS and the current state of the country’s mining sector. The mines minister furthered that his country was diversifying its mineral resources from more traditional minerals like diamonds and gold to other critical minerals like lithium to support economic growth.
Sierra Leone is a member of the KPCS’s Working Group on Monitoring (WGM); Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE); and the Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP). The country is also playing an important role in the African Diamond Producers Association.
Minister Mattai and his delegation were joined by Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Rashid Sesay.
