Botswana signs new diamond sales deal with De Beers

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Botswana signs new diamond sales deal with De Beers

8:24 CAT | 03 Jul 2023

File photo: Reuters

otswana and De Beers have signed a new diamond sales deal which gives the African country a bigger share of rough stones from their joint venture, the Botswana government and the mining company said on Friday.

The government and De Beers agreed on a new 10-year sales deal for Debswana’s rough diamond production through to 2033, and new 25-year Debswana mining licences through to 2054.

Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American AAL.L unit De Beers and Botswana’s government, sells 75% of its output to De Beers, with the balance taken up by state-owned Okavango Diamond Co.

“While the partners finalise the implementation of the formal sales and mining agreements, an interim agreement will preserve the terms of the most recent sales agreement which expired on 30 June,” the parties said in a joint statement.

In the run-up to Friday’s deal, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who is expected to seek re-election next year, had pushed De Beers for a bigger share of Debswana’s output.

In March, Botswana announced it would take a 24% stake in Belgian gem processing firm HB Antwerp in a move seen as designed to loosen De Beers’ grip on the country’s gems.

Botswana’s state-owned diamond trading company, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), would also enter into a five-year agreement to supply rough diamonds to HB Antwerp as part of the deal.

Debswana’s diamond sales hit a record $4.588 billion last year, compared to $3.466 billion in 2021.

Diamond sales, almost entirely from Debswana, account for two-thirds of Botswana’s foreign currency receipts and a fifth of its gross domestic product.

Botswana supplies 70% of De Beers’ rough diamonds.

Source: Reuters