REBUILDING BOTSWANA’S BACKBONE
Govt looks to improve diamond value chain
Botswana has promised to enhance sustainable growth of the diamond value chain to ensure there is economic diversification on the back of revenue generated from the sparkly stones.
These sentiments were shared by nonother than President Mokgweetsi Masisi, speaking at the Natural Diamonds Summit in Gaborone this week.
Held by the government of Botswana and Debeers Group, under the theme ‘Diamonds for Sustainable Development’, the week-long event brought together industry experts to discuss issues relevant to the diamond sector’s future.
Since their discovery in Orapa mere months after Independence, diamonds have been instrumental in transforming Botswana from one of the poorest countries in Africa to one of the more prosperous.
“Diamond proceeds have been pivotal in building modern day Botswana through improved infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, schools as well as driving the education of local people,” declared Masisi to rapturous applause.
“In Botswana, diamonds are much more than beautiful, rare and precious pieces of stones. They are the backbone of our economy!” he added.
However, with the diamond dream carrying an expiry date of around 2050, the country is desperately looking for new ways to boost the economy.
“We are not where we would like to be in terms of development. Our economy remains very dependent on diamond mining which, as a depleting resource is not sustainable. Our priority is to work together with the industry to support the sustainable growth of the diamond value chain, so that we can continue to invest in other sectors of the economy,” reiterated Masisi.
Despite the need to diversify, the President said his government would continue to support investment in Debswana to ensure mining carries on and there is reliable supply of diamonds to the market.
“Efforts have been made in developing opportunities in the downstream sector with more than nine new diamond polishing and cutting factories having set up shop in Botswana in 2022,” he revealed, adding this was just the start.
“More needs to be done to build capacity and expand opportunities for more citizen participation in the diamond value chain. To achieve this, we are committed to investing in the development of people so that they can perform the more complex work with the goal of playing a more meaningful role in the diamond value chain,” said Masisi.
For his part, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Lefoko Moagi, said this is an opportunity for Botswana to positively influence how the world perceives natural diamonds and map a way forward in defining the industry’s contribution to sustainable development.
“Diamonds have done more good than harm but citizens have been left behind in terms of participation in the industry. For that, we push for their active involvement, we don’t want them to be just workers but should also own diamond cutting and polishing factories. Our partners, Debeers, support these efforts by incentivising sightholders to open factories in Botswana. The Sightholders support this by setting up factories and training staff. All this leads to more activities down the diamond pipeline and supports sustainable development,” explained Moagi.
According to Bank of Botswana’s (BOB) Annual Report, last year, diamonds constituted about 90.1 percent of exports in international trade, resulting in P73.4 billion sales.