Mokgweetsi Masisi, the president of Botswana, issued a warning on Sunday, threatening to cut off relations with De Beers if talks to renegotiate a sales agreement do not go well for his nation.
The conditions of the 2011 sales agreement, which was a 50/50 joint venture between the government and De Beers and produced diamonds, terminated in 2021.
The parties have agreed to prolong it; it will now conclude on June 30, 2023; they gave the coronavirus outbreak as their justification.
Masisi threatened, “If we don’t reach a win-win situation, each side will have to pack up and go home.” at a rally of his ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in his home hamlet of Moshupa, approximately 65 kilometres from the capital Gaborone.
According to the 2011 deal, De Beers, a mining firm, receives 90% of the rough diamonds produced, and Botswana, Africa’s top producer, 10%. Botswana’s participation was raised to 25% in 2020.
Botswana’s participation was raised to 25% in 2020.
Speaking in both Tswana and English, Mr. Masisi said that today “we got a taste of how the diamond market works, and we found out that we received less than we should have.”
He continued, “We also discovered that our diamonds are making a significant profit and that the 2011 deal had not been in our advantage. We want a larger part of our diamonds. As previously, business cannot continue.
