Gareth Penny, the featured speaker during the opening of the CIBJO Congress on September 4, 2026. Photo courtesy of CIBJO.
Gareth Penny, who over the past three decades has held senior leadership roles across the financial services, mining, metals and natural resource sectors, including serving as Group CEO of De Beers, will be the featured speaker at the opening of CIBJO’s Centenary Congress on September 4, 2026.
Mr. Penny currently serves as Chairman of Ninety-One Plc. and Ninety-One Ltd., a global business with more than $247 billion of assets under management. He is also Chairman of EnQuest Plc, a UK listed integrated energy company, focused on the responsible management and decommissioning of mature oil and gas assets.
He previously served as Chairman of MMC Norilsk Nickel, the world’s leading producer of nickel and palladium, and as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Julius Baer Group, the leading independent Swiss wealth management group.
But he is perhaps best known for his 22-year career in the global diamond industry, where he held senior leadership roles at both Anglo American and De Beers, the last five years of which he was Group CEO of De Beers. During his tenure, he played a central role in advancing responsible sourcing initiatives through the Kimberley Process, introduced the Supplier of Choice strategy that shifted the industry from a supply-driven to a demand-led model, and spearheaded the creation of Forevermark, De Beers’ first proprietary consumer diamond brand, launched in 2008.
Before joining the business world, Mr. Penny was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.
The 2026 CIBJO Congress will take place in Vicenza, Italy, from Friday, September 4, 2026, through Monday, September 7, 2026. Declared the Centenary Congress, it will mark 100 years since CIBJO’s establishment in 1926.
The venue for the 2026 Congress is the Fiera di Vicenza, during the VICENZAORO jewellery show. It will be hosted by the Italian Exhibition Group, the organiser of the VICENZAORO shows every January and September.
The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) is the international jewellery confederation of national trade organisations. CIBJO’s purpose is to encourage harmonisation, promote international cooperation in the jewellery industry and to consider issues which concern the trade worldwide. CIBJO’s chief mission is to protect consumer confidence in the industry. The World Jewellery Confederation is the sole jewellery industry organisation to have Special Consultative Status with the United Nation’s Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) and is a member of the UN Global Compact.
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