06 Aug 2015

The top 40 Miss Africa-Botswana contestants recently had an opportunity to tour Jwaneng mine to familiarise themselves with one of Botswana’s economic backbones.

The chief executive officer of Miss Africa in Botswana Bruce Nkgakile said the tour of the mine was part of a boot camp that the contestants will undergo before the final competition. 

He said they started with Jwaneng mine and will proceed to other significant places that make up Botswana’s economy such as the Botswana Meat Commission.

He said as ambassadors of the country, beauty queens had to appreciate and be well informed on sectors that were the mainstay of Botswana’s economy. 

He therefore said Jwaneng mine was undoubtedly one of those significant places since it was even the biggest diamond mine by value in the whole world. He also noted that Debswana would at a later stage of the competition sponsor a prize for one of the contestants dubbed The Diamond Girl. 

He said apart from visiting such operations, the boot camp will also see the contestants undergoing a series of capacity building workshops to acquire knowledge on different issues. He said plans were underway to rope in different stakeholders to inpart knowledge on the contestants.

 These workshops, he noted, will help them even in future as not all of them will win the competition.

For their part, the girls expressed gratitude at the opportunity they had been granted to tour one of the biggest diamond mines in the world. 

One of the contestants Judith Kgwadi said she was fascinated by the operations and the processes involved ending up with a sparkling diamond.

She said her motivation came from women who operate big machines and trucks, which were initially operated by men. 

This, she noted, was significant that women all over the world were bridging the gap on gender roles.

Another contestant, Neelo Nthobatsang said the tour was an eye opener especially for those who were visiting Jwaneng mine for the first time.

 She said it was an honour for them to tour such a big entity which contributed a lot of revenue to the country’s coffers. 

She also said the experience and the knowledge they acquired will go a long way in helping them beyond the pageant. Ends