Botswana sets aside $65m to buy 24% stake in gem trader HB Antwerp
Botswana has set aside 890-million pula ($65-million) to buy shares in Belgian diamond trader HB Antwerp, national budget documents show, advancing a deal that President Mokgweetsi Masisi said in November was about to be finalised.
The deal would value the Belgian company, founded in 2020, at $275-million, according to Reuters calculations. HB Antwerp recorded $251-million revenue in 2022, according to its website.
During talks for a new sales contract with De Beers in March, Botswana announced a deal to buy a 24% stake in HB Antwerp and to supply it with rough diamonds for five years via the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC).
Finance minister Peggy Serame did not say how much the HB Anterp shareholding was expected to cost in her 2024/25 national budget speech on Monday, but expenditure estimates published on Wednesday and seen by Reuters show the figure to be 890-million pula.
The diamond market is struggling to recover from the impact of excessive inventories last year following weak demand and pressure from lab-grown gems.
The proposed deal came under the spotlight in September when Lucara Diamond Corp, which owns Karowe mine in Botswana, terminated its sales agreement with HB Antwerp, citing financial irregularities.
HB Antwerp Botswana spokesperson Bonjo Mathumo said the company would not comment on the deal.
Botswana has said the deal was an opportunity for the country to benefit from the money to be made from the diamond downstream industry, including cutting and polishing, a prospect that Masisi says it did not have under previous agreements with De Beers.
Botswana and De Beers last June agreed on a ten-year diamond sales agreement, which will lift ODC's share of Debswana output to 30% from 25% previously, increasing to 40% in five years' time and eventually 50% by the end of the new contract.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...
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
