02 Jun 2024

Botswana, the largest diamond producer by value globally, is watching with keen interest developments around the sale of De Beers by Anglo American, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Speaking on the fringes of the JCK Diamond Show at the Venetian expo in Nevada, USA on Friday, Dr Masisi said Botswana, as an important stakeholder, had vested interests in how everything pans out.

The move by the multi-national giant around the sale is expected to lead to completion of the demerger by the end of 2025. 

Anglo controls 85 per cent of De Beers, while government of Botswana owns 15 per cent.

The latest development comes almost at the tail end of the yet-to-be-signed 10-year contract between Botswana and De Beers.

Although President Masisi did not reveal government’s next course of action on the matter, citing the sensitive nature of the issue, he stated that there was no reason to panic.

Government of Botswana, he said, was more than ready to step up and reign over the matter. He did not rule out the possibility to purchase a more significant stake in the demerger of De Beers by Anglo-American.

According to President Masisi, there was light at the end of the tunnel. 

The current development also presented Botswana with an opportunity to renegotiate for a better deal and further advance the country’s development trajectory.

“I am also here to give consumers of our diamonds at JCK diamond show the confidence and assurance that we are more committed than ever before to continue doing business with them,” he said.

Also, Dr Masisi denounced the so-called existential threat posed by lab-manufactured diamonds, saying they would fizzle out as quickly as they came, as shown by their drastic price slump in the market. 

The President said the G7 countries’ proposal to aggregate diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium, as part of wider sanctions on diamonds from Russia was ill-informed and could financially drain diamond producing countries, including Botswana.

To counter the move, government has penned a letter to the G7 to express unhappiness with the infamous decision, which he said was akin to dictating to diamond-supplying countries, most of whom he said relied on proceeds from diamonds to further developments.

He was happy that many players within the diamond space had swamped the Botswana house, which debuted at this year’s JCK diamond show, expressing interest in working with Botswana.

President Masisi said his working visit was successful and that the ball was in every Motswana’s court to dream big so that someday Botswana could have a multi-million diamond industry in the hands of the citizens, something he said would change the country’s economic landscape. ENDS