Boko talks tough with De Beers
A worried President Duma Boko has expressed disappointment in De Beers for failing to come up with solutions to the country’s high-profile diamond sales struggles.
Since assuming state power in October 2024, Boko has been extremely diplomatic and conciliatory in his dealings with the diamond giant.
However, his latest remarks while addressing Batswana living in Lesotho suggests the President has reached tipping point.
Emphasising his growing frustration, Boko asked, “How is the country broke? Diamonds are not being sold. Who is selling? De Beers. Then De Beers is not doing its job. Maybe we should take over and sell them ourselves. That’s what we should do. That will be deemed very radical. But the country needs the money, and it has the diamonds, and somebody who is supposed to be selling the diamonds is not doing the job.”
The global diamond market has experienced a downturn since the second half of 2023, which caused Debswana to cut production by 27 percent to 17.93 million carats in 2024.
Debswana, which accounts for almost 90 percent of Botswana’s diamond sales, reported a 46 percent drop in revenue last year.
Calling for extreme measures, the President continued, “We will take the diamonds and see what we can do with them. They are ours. These diamonds are ours. And so before the end of this year, something very drastic in that space will happen. If it doesn’t happen, we will die trying.”
Plans are already being made to reduce output to 15 million carats this year, with Debswana temporarily pausing production at Jwaneng Cut 9 and Orapa mines, after suspending operations at its Letlhakane tailing plant and Jwaneng Modular plant in April.
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The temporary stoppages are expected to deliver significant savings across fuel, electricity, and other production consumables.
Although long-term initiatives such as the Jwaneng underground project will continue, selected capital projects will be slowed down to reduce costs.
Addressing delegates at Botswana National Front (BNF) congress this week, Boko denied any rift between the government and De Beers, maintaining the two remain on the same page.
“Our engagement with our partners De Beers are in motion in a peaceful way. We are not fighting them but have to take measures to fix the situation at hand,” explained Boko, adding the country currently has 10 million carats of inventory left over from the 2024 production year.
