Botswana’s diamond sector stands at a pivotal crossroads as global market forces push major players to rethink how they extract value from the country’s most prized resource. With demand for natural diamonds softening and lab-grown stones gaining ground, the spotlight is shifting to beneficiation, local involvement, trading, and economic diversification.
In response to a media inquiry from the WeekendPost, De Beers External Communications Manager Tumie Ramsden shared that the company is rolling out its Origins strategy to adapt to shifting consumer tastes, competition from synthetic diamonds, and broader challenges across the global diamond value chain.
“Our Origins strategy is focused on building a resilient De Beers that can thrive as the diamond industry recovers. We are concentrating on the highest-potential assets, strengthening our position across the value chain, and investing in demand for natural diamonds. At the same time, we see opportunities for synthetic diamonds in high-tech applications,” Ramsden explained.
Upstream, De Beers has sharpened its exploration efforts, zeroing in on the most promising prospects, as demonstrated by the recent discovery of a diamond-bearing kimberlite in Angola. The company is also reassessing its production portfolio and capital expenditures to prioritize long-term investments with the greatest potential.
Midstream, De Beers aims to link various parts of the supply chain through initiatives like its Tracr blockchain platform and the ORIGIN De Beers Group brand. The goal is to boost traceability and strengthen the appeal of natural diamonds from mine to market.
Downstream, with natural diamonds facing fierce competition from lab-grown counterparts, De Beers has ramped up consumer marketing to its highest level in over a decade. Campaigns like Desert Diamonds emphasize the natural origin and unique qualities of diamonds, targeting price-sensitive buyers to stimulate demand.
Ramsden also highlighted a strategic shift in how De Beers approaches synthetic diamonds: “We see the long-term commercial opportunity for synthetic diamonds primarily in technology rather than jewellery. We are developing partnerships in areas such as quantum networks where synthetic diamonds could have high-value applications. This forms an important part of our Pivot Synthetics strategy.”
Alongside these strategic moves, De Beers has slashed over US$100 million in annual costs through streamlining efforts and is reviewing its assets and operating model to boost efficiency and sustainability.
Botswana remains central to De Beers’ long-term diamond vision. The company points to Botswana as one of the rare countries where significant stages of the diamond value chain, from sorting and valuation to cutting, polishing, and sales, are all present. Ramsden emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting the government’s ambitions for the sector: “Botswana has built a highly integrated diamond industry over decades. We recognize the fundamental role diamonds have played in the country’s socioeconomic development and remain committed to supporting Government’s objectives. The country’s position as a global centre of gravity for the rough diamond trade provides a strong foundation for its next phase of development.”
Key milestones include Botswana’s sophisticated diamond sorting infrastructure, a growing domestic cutting and polishing industry, relocation of global sales and aggregation activities to Gaborone, and the move of De Beers’ global auctions headquarters to Botswana.
The renewed Debswana Sales Agreement is seen as a crucial tool for Botswana to capture more value from its diamonds. Under this deal, the share of Debswana production sold through the Okavango Diamond Company is set to rise to 50 percent during the agreement’s term. Meanwhile, the Diamonds for Development Fund aims to channel diamond revenues into investments across other sectors.
Beyond mining, De Beers contributes through skills development, beneficiation, entrepreneurship, and citizen participation programs. These include the International Graduate Development Programme, postgraduate scholarships, internships, plans for a De Beers Vocational Training Institute, and the Diamond Entrepreneurship Programme, alongside initiatives like Stanford SEED, Tokafala, and EntreprenHER.
De Beers’ approach signals that the diamond industry is undergoing a structural shift rather than a brief slump. The company is working to protect its core natural diamond business while repositioning parts of its portfolio for future growth. Its focus on cost-cutting, targeted exploration, and capital discipline highlights the financial pressure producers face amid weak consumer demand and growing acceptance of lab-grown diamonds, which have eroded traditional pricing power.
For Botswana, these changes carry profound implications. The country’s diamond economy extends well beyond extraction to sorting, aggregation, sales, auctions, cutting, and polishing. Increasing the role of Okavango Diamond Company and the Diamonds for Development Fund could deepen local value capture. Yet, the real test will be whether Botswana can turn diamond revenues into competitive industries outside mining, stronger citizen-owned businesses, and sustainable jobs.
De Beers’ ongoing investments in skills, entrepreneurship, and beneficiation present opportunities, but success will depend on measurable outcomes rather than just launching programs. The company’s strategy also reveals a key tension: Botswana wants to maximize value from its diamonds, while De Beers must balance profitability in a global market facing intense disruption.
A near-term recovery in natural diamond prices remains crucial, meaning Botswana’s diversification ambitions can’t rely solely on higher diamond revenues. To succeed, the country will need to harness the diamond industry’s remaining strength as a platform to build capabilities in manufacturing, services, technology, and other sectors that can generate lasting value once the diamond economy matures.