Six major African diamond producing countries have announced plans to form a diamond �syndicate� in order to have a greater say in matters concerning the $13.1 billion rough diamond industry, Victor Kasongo, the deputy mines minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said, according to reports.

The association is being planned along the lines of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that controls 41 per cent of the world�s oil supply.

The diamond association will be formally launched when the mining ministers of Angola, Botswana, Congo, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe meet in Luanda on April 30th. However, officials from each of the six countries are expected to meet in Angola�s capital a week earlier, as per reports.

The 12-member African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which includes these six countries, was formed last year with a view to strengthening their influence on the world diamond market by ensuring that more stones are processed locally, and to put an end to sales of conflict diamonds.

�We will establish the OPEC of diamonds,� Kasongo told Bloomberg. �We will form united diamond policies, so that we have more power on the international arena,� he added.