|
|
Botswana’s Diamond Exports Extend Decline
Sep 29, 2016 3:59 AM
By Rapaport News
|
|
|
 RAPAPORT... Botswana’s rough diamond exports continued a retreat in
August, underlining the country’s need to diversify its economy as it
celebrates 50 years of independence.
Outbound shipments fell 5 percent to $399.7 million,
according to data from the Bank of Botswana. Orders slipped
1.8 percent in the first half of the year even as exports in July were
significantly higher because of the effect of a low base a year ago.
Botswana’s diamond industry can no longer enjoy “business as
usual” because growth would be zero even if production held firm, economists at
Gaborone-based Econsult wrote in a report last month.
“We need to reach out to other sectors of growth, including
other minerals such as copper, iron ore, and uranium, which we must exploit to
the full,” Botswana’s president Ian Khama was cited as saying in South Africa’s
The Daily Maverick in June.
Botswana will clock up half a century of independence
from the U.K. Friday.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tags:
Botswana, Botswana export, exports, Rapaport News, Rough Diamonds, rough exports, trade data
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|