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Sizwe sama Yende

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The Botswana government has turned down plans by G7 (Group of Seven) countries to send its diamonds to Antwerp, Belgium, for certification.

G7, a group of rich western countries comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and, additionally, the European Union – had approached the country early this month selling it the idea that its diamond products must be certified in Belgium.

The G7 took this decision to isolate and exclude Russian diamonds from the market in order to stifle its capacity to fund its war against Ukraine. Russian diamond miners generate about $4.5 billion (about R85 billion) in revenue each year, although that does not come close to oil and gas exports, which generate $384 billion (R7,3 trillion).

“We will introduce import restrictions on non-industrial diamonds, mined, processed, or produced in Russia, by January 1, 2024, followed by further phased restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds processed in third countries targeting March 1, 2024,” the G7 said in a statement.

Botswana’s has been arguing that such a move would cause a logistical nightmare and increase costs for African diamond producers. The country’s economy is largely dependent on diamonds, which account for approximately 20% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Diamond cutting, polishing, and trading accounted for about 5% of the GDP.

Diamond mining contributes to 50% of the government’s revenue mainly through its 50:50 joint venture with De Beers in the Debswana Diamond Company.

According to reports, Botswana Minister of Minerals and Energy Lefoko Moagi had made it “abundantly clear” to the G7’s technical committee that the country was opposed to the proposal. Moagi said that if G7’s wish was fulfilled, it would threaten Botswana’s national sovereignty, given the central role that diamonds play in the country’s economy.

The Botswana government has also questioned why the G7 wanted to introduce a new system of certifying diamonds when no loopholes had been pointed out in the Kimberley Process (KP) that was adopted in 2003 to keep so-called conflict diamonds off the market.

The G7 embassies in Botswana have said in a joint statement that from the outset of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the G7 and partners had stood together to condemn Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and the impact of Russia’s war on the rest of the world.

“We remain united in our efforts to reduce the revenues Russia can access to finance its illegal aggression. Our leaders have asked us to continue to impose coordinated sanctions and other economic actions to achieve this.”

They said that the G7 technical expert team was grateful for Botswana’s invitation to learn first-hand from the deep insights and expertise of Botswana on diamonds. “Knowing that they are equally committed to the shared goal of establishing the provenance of diamonds to protect the reputation of the natural diamond industry and the economies of diamond producing countries.”

“We are grateful for Botswana’s commitment to continue this dialogue to ensure that the aspirations of Botswana to derive more value from beneficiation activities are not negatively impacted by these measures,” the countries said.

They added that streamlined access to G7 markets for Botswana exports would strengthen the country’s important efforts to ensure more diamonds were beneficiated in Botswana and that more diamond industry jobs were created for Batswana.

“While Botswana has not banned Russian diamonds, we want to continue consultations and build partnership between Botswana and the G7 for a thriving, responsible global diamond market. As the world’s leading responsible natural diamond producer, Botswana has the opportunity to better distinguish the provenance of its diamonds on the global market, introduce the world to cutting-edge traceability technologies (including some already being perfected in Botswana), and celebrate the Botswana diamonds-for-development story.”