As the coronavirus pandemic upended the global diamond industry, Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) was no exception as it went for three months without selling a single diamond.

However, in the midst of this crisis, Namdia found an opportunity and is now blind selling diamonds.

Blind selling loosely refers to the sale of goods without giving the buyer an opportunity to examine them. In the diamond industry with over 13 000 types of diamond categories and price points, it nearly is impossible to imagine the blind selling concept.

Nampa recently sat down with Namdia’s chief executive officer, Kennedy Hamutenya, to touch base on how he navigated the ship through COVID-19’s stormy waters.

He pointed to border closures around the world, cancellation of flights and lockdowns as some of the main aspects which nearly crippled the industry.

“Our clients could not come to Namibia. We couldn’t go to them. Logistics were shut down and it was very difficult to ship diamonds,” he said, noting that it had a negative impact on Namdia’s revenue and bottom line.

“A diamond is something that is very personal. People want to see and feel it before they buy it because there are many different categories of diamonds,” he explained.

At the heart of Namdia’s navigation is ‘thinking without the box’.

“We learned to become more agile and nimble. To move fast… now we do blind sales to our clients. Nobody in the world has ever done what we are doing now. We sell diamonds to clients who have never seen them because they trust us.”

Before diamonds are shipped to their respective destinations, money is first deposited into Namdia’s account.

The former diamond commissioner said their diamonds are sought after.

“Even if the prices have gone up, they are buying from us because this is a product that’s wanted. Rolex is putting our stones in their watches. From New York to Tel Aviv, Dubai to Mumbai to Hong Kong, they want our stones,” Hamutenya said.

He could however not say how much Namdia lost to the pandemic in terms of revenue.

“What we have lost is the opportunity cost of that business we would have done for those three months,” he stated.

With diamond sales picking up again, Hamutenya looks into the future with optimism.

“The market is picking up again. Bridal jewellery is hot. For some reason, the Chinese are getting married now more than ever and it’s helping our business,” said Hamutenya.

Source: Namibia Press Agency