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value but this should not be too much of a challenge for a company that has expanded and invested exponentially as Sierra Leone stabilised and peace held. The company restructuring at the end of 2011 – aimed at attracting another $600 million to $1 billion into the country’s mining sector - left holding company Octea Diamond Group with four wholly owned subsidiaries: Octea Mining Ltd, Octea Diamonds Ltd, Octea Services Ltd and the Octea Foundation. The name Octea was chosen rather poetically as reflective of the spectacular quality of the octahedral diamonds characteristic of the area but there is nothing poetic about the company’s investment, which has transformed mining and the changed the lives of many Sierra Leoneans. While Octea Mining holds the company’s mining assets, Octea Services will provide support services to the other three and Octea Diamonds was created to add value to the product and work on marketing and image.
As Reuters reports, thanks largely to increased production at Koidu Holdings, Sierra Leone exported $102 million worth of diamonds in the first half of 2013 as opposed to $71 million for the same period last year”
In a country recovering from prolonged conflict and with high unemployment, social responsibility by a large corporation is possibly imperative. The Octea Foundation handles all corporate responsibilities for the group including development issues and was created because it allowed the mining side to get on with what it does best and brings in professionals to deal with social and community issues. While the parent company’s website currently claims to employ 900 permanent staff members, of whom 90 percent are locals, during short-term projects last year, it was closer to 2,000 locals. And because the group is going to be looking at a move to underground mining at Koidu, thus increasing the size of the operation and production in the next one or two years, we’re sure the increased activity will lead to the hiring of more local people. Indeed, the industry is playing a positive role in this respect. Sierra Leone has over the years suffered from diamonds because diamonds played a key role during the civil Continued
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