GABORONE, Botswana – Sales of tough diamonds on the Debswana Diamond Company fell about 52 % within the first 9 months of 2024, knowledge launched by Botswana’s central financial institution confirmed this week, because the downturn within the international diamond market persevered.
Debswana, equally owned by Botswana and Anglo American Plc’s De Beers, sells 75 % of its output to De Beers, with the steadiness taken up by the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC).
Last yr, Botswana and De Beers agreed to a brand new 10-year diamond gross sales settlement, the place ODC will obtain 30 % of Debswana’s produce and this will likely be scaled as much as 50 % by the tip of the brand new contract.
In the primary three quarters of the yr as much as September, Debswana had offered diamonds value $1.53 billion in comparison with $3.19 billion in the identical interval final yr, the Bank of Botswana stated on Tuesday.
In native foreign money phrases, gross sales have been down 50.3 % to twenty.9 billion pula, which interprets to about $1.55 billion primarily based on present trade charges.
Botswana will get 30 % -40 % of its income, 75 % of its overseas trade earnings, and a 3rd of its nationwide output from diamonds. It is the world’s prime producer of the gem by worth.
The southern African nation held common elections on Wednesday, with the poor efficiency of the financial system -largely as a result of downturn within the international diamond market – and excessive ranges of unemployment among the many points in focus.
“Our diamonds have not been selling since April, so yes, our revenues are down but the economic fundamentals still remain intact,” President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who’s in search of a second time period, stated at a presidential debate final week.
Early outcomes confirmed the opposition events had secured at the least 31 of the 61 seats in parliament, permitting them to decide on the following president – a primary defeat for Masisi and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party since independence over six many years in the past. – Reuters
