https://newsletter.mw.creamermedia.com
Botswana|Financial
Botswana|Financial
botswana|financial

Botswana conducts due diligence on HB Antwerp stake, President says

Diamonds being sorted

Photo by Creamer Media

7th November 2023

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

Botswana is conducting due diligence on HB Antwerp, as the world's top diamond producing country by value seeks to finalise a deal to acquire a 24% shareholding in the Belgian gem trader, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said on Monday.

At the height of talks for a new sales contract with De Beers in March, Botswana announced a deal to become a shareholder in HB Antwerp and to supply the trader with 10% of the rough diamond output from the State-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) for five years.

But the proposed deal was called into question in September when Lucara Diamond terminated its sales agreement with the Belgian gem trader, citing financial irregularities. HB and Lucara first entered into a diamond sales agreement in 2020, which was extended for ten years in 2022.

“Due process of detailed legal and commercial due diligence is now ongoing to finalise the deal,” Masisi said on Monday during a state of the nation address.

After Lucara cut ties with HB Antwerp in September, Masisi told a media briefing the country would reassess the proposed deal to determine its next course of action.

Masisi has said the deal with HB Antwerp gives Botswana a foothold in the diamond downstream industry.

"HB was giving us an opportunity that we never got from our partner De Beers and that’s why we were willing to take the risk with a 10% allocation of ODC supply,” Masisi said in September.

Botswana and Anglo American unit De Beers in June agreed a ten-year diamond sales agreement, which will see ODC's share of Debswana output rise to 30% from 25% previously, rising to 40% in five years' time and eventually 50% by the end of the contract.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Showroom

SMS group
SMS group

At SMS group, we have made it our mission to create a carbon-neutral and sustainable metals industry.

VISIT SHOWROOM 
John Ratcliffe
John Ratcliffe

At John Ratcliffe, we are aftermarket specialists for heavy-duty on and off-road vehicles. We engineer and retrofit advanced safety systems, engine...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (29/11/2024)
29th November 2024 By: Martin Creamer
Magazine video image
Magazine round up | 29 November 2024
29th November 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.139 0.221s - 127pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now