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Diamond Trading Drives Botswana Growth
Jun 27, 2017 9:34 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Botswana’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.3% in 2016, mainly due to an improvement in the nation’s diamond trade, the Bank of
Botswana said last week.
An increase in wholesale activity by diamond companies operating in Botswana,
such as De Beers’ Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) and state-owned Okavango
Diamond Company, drove the nation’s economic growth, explained Keith
Jefferis, managing director of local economic consultancy firm Econsult and a
former deputy governor of the bank. De Beers’ 2016
rough sales — the vast majority of which came from GSS — jumped 37% to $5.6
billion, while Okavango’s sales leapt 80% to $546.5 million.
Overall growth in the non-mining sector, including trading
of rough diamonds, was 5.5% for the year, the bank said. Meanwhile, the contraction in the nation’s mining
output slowed to 3.7% from 19.6% in 2015. |
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Tags:
Bank of Botswana, Botswana, De Beers, De Beers’ Global Sightholder Sales, diamond trading, eConsult, gdp, gross domestic production, GSS, Keith Jefferis, Okavango, Okavango Diamond Company, Rapaport News
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