Is Botswana Getting A Raw Deal From De Beers Diamonds - The World News

The 2023 negotiations between President Mokgweetsi Masisi and De Beers were uncommonly public and surprisingly aggressive. President Masisi threatened to walk away from the deal entirely unless Botswana received a larger slice of the pie.

On paper, that is true. Debswana mines the diamonds. But here lies the rub: De Beers controls the sight . For decades, virtually all of Botswana’s rough diamonds were sold exclusively through De Beers’ London-based sales arm. Botswana got 50% of the mining profits, but De Beers captured the margin on sorting, valuing, and global distribution.

+------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------+ | Metric | The New Deal | +------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------+ | Contract Duration | 10-Year Sales / 25-Year Mining Licence | | Government Output Allocation (ODC) | 30% initially, scaling up to 50% by 2035 | | Development Funding Injection | Up to $750 million over 10 years | | Key Economic Focus | Job creation, local beneficiation, tech | +------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------+ The Evolution of a Fifty-Year Monopoly

The current deal is a relic of a pre-synthetic, pre-internet monopoly era. In a world where De Beers’ market share has shrunk from 90% to around 30%, Botswana no longer needs a guardian; it needs a logistics partner.

The Okavango Diamond Company’s allocation of rough diamonds instantly jumped from 25% to 30%, with a contractual trajectory to scale up to 50% over the next decade . This effectively gives Botswana a massive, independent commercial footprint in the global diamond market. Debswana mines the diamonds

For decades, the relationship between the Republic of Botswana and the diamond giant De Beers has been hailed as a quintessential model of cooperation between a developing nation and a multinational corporation. Often described as a "marriage," this partnership transformed Botswana from one of the poorest nations in the world at independence in 1966 into an upper-middle-income economy.

Currently, diamonds from Botswana are often mixed with stones from South Africa, Canada, and Namibia before being sold. Botswana wants the right to sell its own stones independently—specifically through the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) . De Beers is resisting, arguing that aggregation allows for better pricing consistency.

For decades, the partnership between the Government of Botswana and De Beers Group was hailed as the world’s most successful public-private partnership. Founded via the 50-50 joint venture , the arrangement successfully lifted Botswana into an upper-middle-income nation.

Is Botswana Getting a Raw Deal From De Beers Diamonds? The decades-long partnership between the Republic of Botswana and De Beers is often cited as the gold standard for public-private cooperation. However, as the global diamond market undergoes a seismic shift, many are asking if the "miracle of African development" is being short-changed. From Gaborone to the boardroom in London, the debate over whether Botswana is getting a raw deal has reached a fever pitch. The Foundation of a Diamond Giant Botswana got 50% of the mining profits, but

[ Mining in Botswana ] ──> [ Aggregation/Rough Sale ] ──> [ Cutting & Polishing ] ──> [ Retail Jewelry ] (High Volume / Taxed) (De Beers Controlled) (Low Local Margin) (Massive Margins)

The brinkmanship culminated in a landmark, multi-billion-dollar deal that fundamentally rewrites the partnership:

: The state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) has begun increasing its share of rough diamonds from the Debswana joint venture. It started at 30% and is scheduled to reach 50% by the end of the contract.

Upon independence in 1966, Botswana possessed very little infrastructure. Founding President Seretse Khama chose partnership with De Beers over exploitation, ensuring public ownership of mineral wealth, which funded free education, healthcare, and infrastructure. As of April 2026

To gauge if Botswana is getting a raw deal, one must look at the historical trajectory. In 1967, when the Orapa pipe was found, Botswana had 12 kilometers of paved road. Sir Seretse Khama, the founding president, made a prescient deal with Harry Oppenheimer. He accepted a lower immediate royalty in exchange for the "reserved right" to buy into the asset later.

For most of the partnership, all diamonds were flown to De Beers’ headquarters in London for sorting and valuation. Botswana provided the raw material, but the intellectual capital—the science of knowing which stone goes to which jeweler—remained abroad. President Mokgweetsi Masisi has famously called this arrangement "unsustainable," demanding that sorting and valuation happen entirely within Botswana’s borders.

As of April 2026, Botswana has shifted away from a "raw deal" in its diamond partnership with De Beers by securing a 10-year agreement that raises the state’s share of rough diamonds, transitioning toward a 50/50 equity split by 2035. While this February 2025 deal increases local control, Botswana currently faces economic challenges, including a global supply glut, market volatility, and a substantial diamond inventory. For more information, visit Reuters .