De Beers Can Do More, Botswana Group Says

RAPAPORT… A Botswana employers’ advocacy group has called out De Beers for failing to provide
substantial opportunities for the country’s businesspeople.  

“The benefits deriving from the diamond industry have
unfortunately not been enjoyed by Batswana entrepreneurs,” Gobusamang Keebine,
president of Business Botswana, said in a speech during the fifth
regional High Level Consultative Conference (HLCC) in Francistown on Saturday.
A transcript was posted on the Botswana government’s Facebook page.

“[De Beers]
has done very little to add to economic activity in Botswana and improve Batswana
business participation in the industry,” he stressed.

De Beers is about to start negotiations on a new supply and marketing agreement with the Botswana government, as the current contract expires in 2020. While the sales partnership between the two has created more than 3,600 jobs for local
citizens, the bulk of those were lower-level positions, and there has been
little change over the years, Keebine noted.

The current 10-year agreement from 2011 led De Beers to relocate its sorting and sales operations from London to Gaborone – a move that failed to offer prospects for local entrepreneurs, Keebine claimed. The miner should learn from Chinese businesses operating in Botswana’s construction center, who have been transferring their skills to locals, he urged.  

Keebine also took aim at Okavango Diamond Company, which was created in 2012 to sell 15% of local mining company Debswana’s production on behalf of the government. While Okavango is operating as a commercial entity, it doesn’t  promote beneficiation and citizen empowerment, he said. 

Business Botswana has asked the government to allow it to
participate in negotiations with De Beers, as the company’s supply agreement is up for renewal in 2020. “It is imperative that a greater sense of urgency is given
to reforms that will ensure that Batswana entrepreneurs are able to benefit,”
Keebine added.

A De Beers spokesperson dismissed the critique, arguing that the company leads the industry in terms of developing prospects for local entrepreneurs.

“De Beers Group has a long and proud history of creating
value and opportunities for Batswana and we will continue to do so,” David
Johnson, head of strategic communications for De Beers, told Rapaport News
Monday. “Our beneficiation approach is underpinned by a system…that creates the
most value in [the] country by skills transfer and local rough-diamond
utilization.”

The relocation of the company’s sightholder sales to
Gaborone has had a significant positive impact on the country as well, Johnson
points out. “[It] has been instrumental in developing Batswana
professionals in key business management roles.” 

The miner supports a number of initiatives which benefit the
country’s professionals as well, including a leadership program with the Stanford
Graduate School of Business; the Tokafala enterprise development program, which
offers small, micro and medium-sized businesses mentoring and access to market;
and a partnership with UN Women to support female entrepreneurs, Johnson added.

Image: President Gobusamang Keebine speaking at HLCC. (Botswana Govenrment/Facebook)