Diamond Empowerment Fund to Present Award to Botswana

(IDEX Online News) – The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), which supports education initiatives in African diamond-producing nations, will present the DEF 2014 Global Diamond Industry Achievement Award to Botswana President Ian Khama at the JCK Show next year.

Following successful Diamonds in the Sky Gala events in London and Hong Kong, the DEF will be starting off the 2014 JCK weekend with its third Diamonds In The Sky Gala in Las Vegas on May 29.

The award to Khama and the government of Botswana is in recognition of "their global leadership and contributions to democracy, sustainable economic development and the growth and expansion of the international diamond industry".

Botswana's ambassador's to the United States, Tebelelo Seretse, said: “On behalf of the Republic of Botswana, we are grateful for this global recognition by the Diamond Empowerment Fund."

The inaugural Diamonds in the Sky Gala events took place in 2010 in London and honored Nicky Oppenheimer, former Chairman of De Beers, and Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Bank. The following year in Hong Kong in 2011, DEF honored Dr. Cheng Yu-tung Chairman of the Chow Tai Fook Group and Cynthia Carroll, then Chief Executive of Anglo American.