Botswana conducts due diligence on HB Antwerp stake, President says
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.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Rentech provides renewable energy products and services to the local and selected African markets. Supplying inverters, lithium and lead-acid...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Yale Lifting Solutions is a leading supplier of lifting and material handling equipment in Southern Africa. Yale offers a wide range of quality...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
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?
Receive 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)
➕
Recieve 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
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
