22 Jun 2022

The significance of diamonds to Botswana’s story of rags to riches is well documented. The precious stone has transformed the country from one of the poorest at independence to a middle-income country striving for upper middle-income status.

And as President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi once said when lobbying European Union (EU) diplomats to back Botswana’s bid to host the Kimberly Process secretariat, “diamonds mean everything to us”.

“Every good story you have heard about Botswana is predicated on the production, safe selling and responsible utilisation of diamonds,” President Masisi told the envoys.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Kimberly Process inter-sessional meeting in Kasane, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi said hosting the Kimberly Process secretariat would transform the country into a world diamond centre with all the accompanying benefits.

He noted that the services sector and hospitality industry specifically would get a boost. He also said other economic sectors were bound to benefit from housing the headquarters of the anti-conflict diamond watchdog in Gaborone.

The Kimberly Process is the brainchild of Southern African diamond-producing countries that met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000 with an aim to ensure diamonds were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme) was then set up in 2003 and it is the scheme agreement that mandated the secretariat set-up.

Mr Moagi said Botswana was determined to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Gaborone became the headquarters of some of the world’s leading diamond producers.

In its bid, Botswana’s message has been simple and centered around the country’s diamond story, which dates back to one year post independence era.

It is a story of a country transformed primarily by harnessing diamonds to maintain tight control of its mineral wealth.

Revenue generated from diamond mining transformed the lives of people in more ways than could have been imagined by pre-independence communities across the vast landscape of Botswana.

“The significance of Botswana diamonds on the economy is unlike any in the world,” emphasised President Masisi in his engagement with the EU diplomats.

Botswana is not a newbie in hosting organisational secretariats as it is the host of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretariat.

Expectations are that it can emulate the success of housing SADC by also hosting the Kimberly Process secretariat.

SADC house has been credited with an increase in property valuations and upgrades in the Central Business District as well as job creation.

Minister Moagi noted that since the discovery of the first diamond deposits in 1967, government formulated appropriate legislation and structures to ensure good governance and sustainable management of mineral resources.

He also said the relative peace and security that prevailed in the country was an essential ingredient to hosting the secretariat. He noted that hosting the secretariat would also generate increased international exposure for the country.

He said the hosting the Kimberly Process secretariat would increase employment opportunities as the secretariat would need both skilled and unskilled labour.

“New economic activities always emerge when a diplomatic office is opened as local suppliers vie for contracts to sell fresh produce, stationery and other staples to the secretariat,” he said.

Minister Moagi also said they were capitalising on Botswana’s current status as the chair of the Kimberly Process to lobby for the secretariat. ENDs