Surat: Botswana, the African country that gained independence in 1966, 19 years after India, sees itself playing a major role in the global diamond trade, which was limited to mining for decades. During her visit to Surat on Friday, Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, cabinet minister of minerals and energy, Botswana, hinted that the country is looking forward to increasing the production of diamonds based on the positive festive buying.“We had good indications for the holiday season, that the retailers have started pushing out most of their stock and that confidence and positive productivity is starting to show up in the midstream as well. It will also force us to increase production,” Kenewendo told TOI.“And, that is why we are so laser-focused on our campaign and our strategy of defence differentiation and really bringing back the demand through the understanding of the products, but also really giving the consumers what they want,” she added.Botswana has nearly 30% share in global diamond supply, making it a leading business partner for India, where nine out of 10 diamonds are polished in Surat and Gujarat. Suggesting stronger ties between India and Botswana in diamond trade, Kenewendo said, “There would be developments that the Botswana President Duma Boko will announce during his visit in Jan.”She also shared how, in turbulent times, employees are not laid off by the diamond polishing units in Botswana. Kenewendo said, “In 1982 we had only one polishing company. By the end of 2023, we had close to 70. Some of them have had a few challenges, but I’m happy to report that the majority of them haven’t actually laid off anybody through the structural changes that the market is going through in Botswana.”Kenewendo shared how the Southern African country is ready to take leadership in global diamond trade, from sharing the story of the rare diamonds that are from the age of dinosaurs to venturing into jewellery manufacturing as well.“The buyers want greener diamonds, and we share the story of our diamonds that are impactful. When we gained independence, we only had about 3 km of road, and now we are well over 21,000 km, with the majority of the population having access to electricity,” she said.The diamonds mined in Botswana attract almost double the price compared to other non-African countries. That makes the product special. “We rely on what the earth gives us, and we believe that a stone that is the same age as a dinosaur is as rare as it comes. People are appreciating those larger stones, and we’re actually seeing very good price points for what we call exceptional stones, five-plus carats as well,”” she added.
