Botswana reported to have offered Zimbabwe a loan of $600 million to advance diamond industry.

Botswana is reportedly ready to give Zimbabwe a loan of $600 million to develop and support its diamond industry. The report on the loan was initially published by the Herald, the state-owned new paper and online daily, but apparently has since been removed.

Reuters reported that Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi are expected to sign the loan agreements in Harare on Thursday. The loan is said to consist of $500 million dollars for Zimbabwe’s diamond industry and a further $100 million to help private companies, whose operations have been hamstrung by the dollar shortage, the state-owned Herald newspaper was quoted.

Commentators, however, expressed skepticism on the reports. While relations between Zimbabwe and Botswana have reportedly improved significantly after the ousting of Robert Mugabe, no other confirmation has yet been published.