20 Feb 2020

 In an endeavour to promote diamond beneficiation, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi announced in the 2019 State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) that government had developed a diamond beneficiation strategy to enable citizen participation in the diamond production value chain. 

The strategy, which sought to promote participation of citizens in diamond cutting and polishing, was an addition to relocation of the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) from London to Gaborone and establishment of the Diamond Hub in 2008 and 2013 respectively. 

Additionally, the establishment of the Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) gave Botswana government an opportunity to market and sell 15 per cent of Debswana’s rough diamonds through online bidding, with the remaining 85 per cent going to De Beers. 

Last year, the ODC revealed the largest blue diamond discovered in Botswana, a 20.46 carat named Okavango Blue. 

Originally from Orapa mine, the stone attracted international attention due to its rare features and high value. It is expected to go on sale this year, roving in millions of Pulas. 

Being the world’s second largest diamond producer after Russia, President Masisi also told the 2019 Diamond Conference that Botswana had commenced talks with its diamond partner, De Beers for implementation in 2020 when the existing agreement lapses. 

Even though he commended De Beers for the successful 50-year partnership with the government of Botswana, he emphasized the need for the diamond sector to keep up with the dynamics of consumer trends and tastes in the market, hence the need for the beneficiation strategy. 

“Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of international social issues and they are demanding responsible business practices, therefore consumer behaviour is important to my government and De Beers, which called for utilisation of existing technologies and the creation of new ones to respond to the emerging diamond consumption patterns,” he said. 

To this end, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Mr Mmetla Masire said even though they had made strides in developing the strategy, it was directly linked to the ongoing negotiations with De Beers, hence could not reveal much at this point to avoid compromising the negotiations. 

He, however, noted that negotiations were going well and the next meeting is scheduled for next month (March). 

In the meantime, the partnership between De Beers and the Botswana government continues to bear fruit as President Masisi and First Lady Ms Neo Masisi joined other dignitaries for the De Beers Shining Light Awards in November last year, where a Motswana young woman, Gaone Otsile, was awarded a 12 month post graduate scholarship at Milan, Italy for her outstanding designs. 

The initiative is a De Beers Group beneficiation programme intended to provide an opportunity for jewellery designers in its diamond producer partner countries by providing exposure to the retail segment of the international diamond industry.

The participating countries include Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, with Canada making its first debut last year. 

Other Batswana runner-ups in the jewellery competition, Victor Motlokwa and Khumo Makwa, were awarded a three months internship scholarship at the Forevermark Design and Innovation Centre in Italy and a 12 months jewellery skills development scholarship at a regional jewellery design institution respectively. 

However, one of the local jewellery designers, Caiphus Othomile said there were still more opportunities in the diamond value chain. His company, La Calla Jewelleries, was engaged to design Miss Botswana 2019 tiara using blue, black and white diamonds. 

“A country that produces many diamonds per annum like Botswana should benefit from using its resources by venturing into jewellery production. 

This will ensure additional employment outside the mining, sorting and sale of rough stones. 

There are great opportunities within the creative industry, particularly the jewellery sector in Botswana,” he said. 

Furthermore, he noted that Botswana diamonds had a beautiful and unique story that could boost the tourism sector. 

He underscored the need to venture into designs that were culturally motivated to tell the Botswana diamonds story. “Jewellery is an ideal product for the tourism market due to its size, portability and preciousness. 

At the same time, Botswana has a great story to tell in relation to its products. 

The combination of economic success due to diamonds and traditional integrity is unique within the region, and yet it is rarely employed as a sales strategy in terms of diamonds jewellery design,” he noted. Ends