Botswana President: New De Beers Contract Coming Soon

By Rob Bates | January 23, 2025

Botswana’s president, Duma Boko, said his country has reached agreement with De Beers on all issues surrounding their long-awaited new contract, except for some “tidying up.”

“I’m hoping it [will be signed] tomorrow,” he told Reuters at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “I mean it literally.”

Boko, who took office in November, added that discussions over whether Botswana will raise its current 15% stake in De Beers were “going well.”

He said Botswana’s finance ministry is predicting a natural diamond rebound this year and that the country’s gross domestic product will rise 3%–4%.

De Beers’ contract with Botswana originally ran out at the end of 2021 but has been extended numerous times since then. In June 2023, the two parties signed an agreement in principle, followed by a “head of terms” that October. But since then, no final deal has been reached.

Shortly after his inauguration, Boko indicated De Beers was considering “walking away” from the negotiations; his predecessor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, had made similar threats prior to the agreement in principle.

Last year, De Beers’ parent, Anglo American, announced plans to sell the diamond company. Recent reports have suggested that mining giant BHP may make another bid for Anglo, after being rebuffed in early 2024.

(Photo courtesy of the government of Botswana)