31 Oct 2022

All stakeholders should be part of the vision ensuring that diamonds are used for sustainable development, as it has been the case with Botswana since the gems’ discovery. 

  This was said by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi when officially opening the Natural Diamonds Summit in Gaborone yesterday. 

 “We must be exemplary in our governance of these natural resources. We must ensure that issues of ethics, fairness, inclusion, upliftment, development, as well as the protection of the environment, form the backbone of our economies and institutions regarding the industry,” he said.

  Dr Masisi said government’s top priority was to work with the industry to support sustainable growth of the diamond value chain to enable continued investment in other sectors of the economy to achieve  economic diversification.

In addition, he said government would continue to support Debswana in order to ensure continuation of mining  and a reliable supply of diamonds to the market.

 “More importantly, we want to continue working collectively with the industry to respond to the needs of the consumer who purchases natural diamonds,” he said.

President Masisi noted that retail clients increasingly demanded to know the source of diamonds they were buying and how they had improved  communities living in areas where they were mined.

He said that compelled diamond industry players to accelerate sustainable development.

“We need to invest in capacitating our people to innovate and reduce the industry’s impact on the environment,” said President Masisi.

The President also emphasised the need to support the Kimberly Process as the first point of assurance that diamonds traded were ethically sourced and conflict free. He said the opportunity for all stakeholders to converge and discuss issues relevant to the industry’s future was extremely important for Botswana.

The summit’s theme, Diamonds for Sustainable Development, Dr Masisi said, resonated with the country’s aspirations.

"Firstly, it speaks directly to the Botswana diamond story," said President Masisi explaining that the country had managed its diamond resources prudently for the benefit of all citizens. 

"Diamond proceeds have been instrumental in building all that you see around us, roads and hospitals," said the President.

He said secondly, the theme was relevant given the prevailing conditions globally singling out  COVID-19 and climate change induced disasters. 

"All of these issues compel us to collectively consider how we want to move forward into the future," said President Masisi.

Relating the Botswana story, the President said upon the discovery of diamonds, government decided to promulgate legislation that vested ownership of mineral rights in the state. Policies were developed to ensure that the minerals benefited the whole country irrespective of where they were discovered, he said.

"That foresight, and ability to plan into the future, is what sustainability is all about," noted President Masisi.

He said with clarity on usage of mineral resources, Botswana then entered into negotiations with a technical partner whose geologists discovered the diamond bearing Kimberlite rock.

"That is how the relationship with De Beers in our flagship mining company Debswana was formed," said President Masisi adding that the partnership had turned out to be one of the most successful public private partnerships in history.

The President said the next step was investing in citizens through education which had been critical to supporting sustainable development.

 "We have been able to realise at the national level, one of the highest literacy rates in the world, while at business level, we have seen our mining joint venture move from being foreign run at management level, to now being almost fully managed by citizens," he said.

President Masisi however said Botswana was not where it wanted to be development-wise.

The economy remained dependent on diamond mining, a depleting resource, which was not sustainable, he said.

The President said although there was progress in developing opportunities in the downstream sector, more needed to be done to build capacity and expand opportunities for citizen participation in the diamond value chain. Dr Masisi said beyond diamonds, government was investing in many programmes and initiatives aimed at developing the capacity of citizens in the knowledge sector.

Government was also driving enterprise development to enable citizens to participate in the local economy and globally, he said.ends