Botswana Must Diversify Beyond Diamonds
February 05, 25
(IDEX Online) - Botswana can no longer afford to rely on diamonds to drive its economy, newly-elected president Duma Boko told delegates at a conference in Tanzania.
The country must develop new industries, dismantle the state power utility so that private companies can compete, and increase concessional borrowing.
Boko (pictured), who swept to power in last October's general election, was speaking at the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit last week in Dar es Salaam.
Botswana's diamond revenue has been severely hit by the global slump in demand. In the last nine months of 2024 Debswana - its 50/50 joint venture with De Beers it sold $1.53bn of rough, down 52 per cent on the same period in 2023.
Boko said unemployment, especially among the country's youth, was a major problem, but the diamond industry didn't provide enough jobs to help.
He called for more "climate-smart" agriculture, wildlife tourism and locak processing of minerals rather than exporting ore.