24 Dec 2019

Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Mr Lefoko Moagi says the current sales agreement between government and DeBeers runs for 10 years.

Answering a question in Parliament recently, Mr Moagi said the agreement was signed on January 1, 2011 and will expire on December 31, 2020.

Mr Moagi added that the Master Agreement, however, runs for 25 years and therefore will expire on July 31, 2029.

He explained that prior to and during negotiations, government engaged independent consultants to review the agreements and their implementation as well as advise on areas of improvement.

However, he said though such agreements were confidential, the terms and conditions of the contracts were in the public domain.

Mr Moagi said they were two key agreements guiding the joint ventures between government and DeBeers with respect to Debswana Diamond Company and Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB). “These are the Sales Agreement and the Master Agreement,” he said.

The sales agreement, he said, provided for the terms and conditions for the sales and marketing of Debswana production, relocation of DTC International from London to Gaborone, allocation of a portion of Debswana production to government and supply of rough diamonds for local beneficiation.

On the other hand, Minister Moagi said the Master Agreement provided for the terms and conditions for the renewal of the Debswana Diamond Company mining licenses, which included among others the fiscal regime, local beneficiation, establishment of the DTCB and other corporate governance matters.

Mr Moagi also indicated that the agreements did not have provisions for procurement and citizen economic empowerment, as they were governed by the prevailing government policies and legislation.

Mahalapye East Member of Parliament, Mr Yandani Bok had asked the minister to provide details about key elements of the joint agreement between government and DeBeers with special reference on shareholding, beneficiation, governance, citizen empowerment, investment by either party and to also state the duration and independent review of the agreement. ends