Botswana signs new diamond sales deal with De Beers Diamond Consortium

Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, and De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company, have signed a new diamond sales deal. 

The government of Botswana and the diamond mining company De Beers Diamond Consortium said on Friday that they struck an “agreement in principle.” 

The De Beers Diamond Consortium, an international corporation that has experience in diamond mining, renewed the deal to conduct a diamond business from Botswana. On Friday, the Botswana government and the mining company agreed on a new 10-year sales agreement of diamonds, produced by Debswana, a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers. 

De Beers and Botswana said that the agreement “reflects the aspirations of the people of Botswana, propels both Botswana and De Beers forward, and underpins the future of their Debswana joint venture through long-term investment.”

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In May, a government spokesperson of Botswana said that the government wanted to maintain its partnership with De Beers. William Sentshebeng, a government spokesperson, said that the negotiations between the government and De Beers were ongoing. He said that the deal would benefit both parties. 

The previous deal between the mining company and the government of Botswana, which was finalized in 2011, gave the country 25 per cent of diamond output to sell, while the remainder went to the diamond mining company. Reportedly, Debswana’s output increased to 25 per cent in 2020 from 10 per cent in 2011. 

The diamond mining company relied on Botswana for about 70 per cent of its rough diamond supply last year. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, the President of Botswana, said that he wanted to increase the country’s value chain of diamonds. 

According to Reuters, De Beers company and Botswana have also planned to invest in capital-intensive expansion projects at their two mines to expand their lifespans by 20 years.