28 Sep 2026

The evocative beauty of Botswana's diamonds and world heritage site, the Okavango Delta, over the past week lured and placed under one roof, the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, American tennis legend, five time Wimbledon singles champion and four time Olympic gold medallist Venus Williams, her compatriot, singer-songwriter Ciara and Botswana's own Olympic 200 metre champion, Letsile Tebogo.

At a dinner hosted in New York City in the United States, these global personalities joined President Advocate Duma Boko and First Lady Kaone Boko as well as dignitaries from Angola and Namibia on an evening to celebrate the Okavango Eternal, a ten-year partnership between the De Beers Group and the National Geographic Society.

Making a keynote address at the dinner, President Boko expressed the belief that after a period of depressed natural diamond sales, the market was stabilising and would be bullish with rising demand and sales.

He said the Okavango Eternal demonstrates how responsible diamond production could support conservation, tourism, communities and livelihoods, and that the next chapter of Botswana’s natural diamond story should create value, resilience and lasting impact.

National Geographic explorer, Mr Steve Boyes explained that the Okavango Eternal project exists to support the work of the National Geographic Wilderness Project in the protection of the Okavango River Basin, and to support conservation-linked livelihood opportunities in the delta.

To that end, over the past five years, Okavango Eternal delivered impact projects through collaboration with the governments of Botswana, Angola and Namibia, and with local communities and the Wild Bird Trust, he said.

Mr Boyes, who in 2015 commenced the conservation project in the Angolan Highlands that provides 95 per cent of the water that sustains the biodiversity of the Okavango Delta, said it was vital to link the effort across the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

He revealed that working in partnership with De Beers, National Geographic had conducted groundbreaking scientific research to shed new light on these transboundary landscapes and bring to global attention to their ecological, social, cultural and economic importance.

Support was also offered in establishing two Nkashi Knowledge Centres that expand access to education, entrepreneurship and conservation opportunities, it was revealed.

Ms Malebogo Mpugwa, the chief people officer at the De Beers Group said over the next five years, the Okavango Eternal initiative would seek to advance conservation through science and traditional knowledge; expand livelihood opportunities and leverage storytelling to inspire conservation action through the National Geographic brand. ENDS