Cameroon’s diamond production more than doubled in 2025, but export revenues remained broadly flat, highlighting persistent challenges linked to smuggling and weak formalisation in the sector, official data showed.
According to figures released in Yaoundé on Jan. 23 by the National Permanent Secretariat of the Kimberley Process, Cameroon produced 15,382.37 carats of diamonds in 2025, compared with 6,219.8 carats a year earlier.
Despite the sharp increase in output, official export earnings showed little change. The Kimberley Process secretariat said Cameroon generated close to 110 million CFA francs (U$180,000) from diamond exports in 2025, down slightly from about 120 million CFA francs in 2024.
The disconnect between rising production and stagnant revenues has again drawn attention to the large volumes of diamonds believed to be traded outside official channels.
Industry observers and authorities say smuggling remains widespread, preventing the state from capturing the full value of its diamond resources and undermining efforts to strengthen oversight under the Kimberley Process, the international certification scheme aimed at preventing the trade in conflict diamonds.
“Official export earnings continue to fall well below the country’s production potential,” the Kimberley Process secretariat said, pointing to persistent leakages into informal markets.
Smuggling concerns persist
Cameroon’s diamond sector is dominated by artisanal and small-scale mining, which is often poorly regulated and difficult to monitor, particularly in remote eastern regions bordering the Central African Republic.
The scale of underreporting has been highlighted by past discrepancies. In 2019, official Kimberley Process data recorded diamond exports of just 654 carats, while the same authority said it had been able to trace total national production of more than 1,595 carats during the year.
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The unaccounted-for volumes – close to 950 carats – were widely believed to have been diverted into informal export networks, according to industry sources.
Similar patterns are believed to persist, with diamonds often smuggled across borders to neighbouring countries where they can be sold more easily into international markets.
Structural weaknesses
Analysts say the lack of local diamond processing capacity continues to fuel illicit trade. Cameroon has little to no domestic cutting or polishing infrastructure, making it harder to trace stones from mine to export and encouraging miners to sell rough diamonds through unofficial channels.
Efforts to strengthen controls have so far had limited success, with authorities facing constraints linked to enforcement capacity, porous borders and limited incentives for artisanal miners to formalise production.
Cameroon is a relatively small producer by global standards, but the sector is seen as having untapped potential. Officials say improving traceability, expanding local value addition and strengthening compliance with Kimberley Process standards are key to boosting official revenues.
For now, however, the latest figures suggest that while production is rising, much of the value generated by Cameroon’s diamond sector continues to escape the formal economy.
