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Anglo American’s economic footprint in Namibia contracted sharply in 2025, with its total tax and economic contribution falling 21% to US$432 million (N$7.11 billion), down from US$545 million (N$8.97 billion) in 2024, a decline that lands just as the group works to separate De Beers from the rest of the business.
The Namibian operations run through De Beers’ 50:50 joint venture with the Namibian government, spanning Namdeb’s land-based diamond recovery and Debmarine Namibia’s offshore mining. Anglo American continues to progress the De Beers separation, via either divestment or demerger, as part of unlocking value under the Origins strategy it announced in May 2024. The decline was broad-based across nearly every line item. Wages and related payments dipped 1.1% to US$88 million from US$89 million, while community and social investment held flat at US$3 million, the only category to avoid a cut.
Total procurement fell 24.9% to US$238 million from US$317 million, with local procurement down 12.9% to US$135 million from US$155 million. Capital expenditure was hit hardest of all, dropping 58.1% to US$18 million from US$43 million, a signal worth watching for the pace of future investment in Namibian operations. Fiscal contributions followed the same trajectory. Taxes and royalties borne, plus taxes collected, fell 25% to US$102 million from US$136 million. Within that, corporate income tax dropped 66.7% to US$4 million from US$12 million, royalties and mining taxes fell 14.3% to US$30 million from US$35 million, other payments borne declined 12.5% to US$14 million, and taxes collected slid 24.7% to US$55 million from US$73 million.
Namibia is one of four countries alongside Botswana, Canada and South Africa, where De Beers produces around one-third of the world’s rough diamonds by value, so the pullback there is a data point for the diamond market more broadly, not just a single-country story. The company’s Tax and Economic Contribution Report 2025 frames the ongoing separation as central to unlocking full value from the Origins strategy’s four key pillars, supported by a broader business-streamlining push. On the resource side, De Beers’ major operations remain large, long-life assets with significant life-extension potential.
Kimberlite discoveries have been scarce in recent years, with the notable exception of a new kimberlite field identified in Angola, a find the report frames as reinforcing De Beers’ competitive position in the industry’s upstream segment. Combined with rising middle-class growth in key diamond-consuming markets, the report points to favourable long-term prospects for the business, even as it navigates near-term headwinds across the industry.
