Botswana’s deal to acquire a stake in Belgian gem trader HB Antwerp – proposed by the previous government but never completed – appears to be in limbo.

The plan for Botswana to purchase a 24% interest in HB Antwerp – first announced by former President Mokgweetsi Masisi in March 2023 – was seen as a model to challenge the southern African country’s decades-long partnership with De Beers. If executed, the deal would see State trader Okavango Diamond receive polished rather than rough prices for stones for a portion of its sales.

Masisi’s administration, which was voted out of power in October, “was still doing due diligence and they never closed on that agreement,” Minerals and Energy Minister Bogolo Kenewendo said in an interview on Wednesday. “There was never anything signed on the dotted line, and so we have nothing really to progress.”

HB Antwerp still aims to conclude the transaction.

“The deal is definitely not abandoned and HB is committed to Botswana,” said Rafael Papsimedov, a co-founder of HB Antwerp.

The Belgian company was waiting for Botswana to finalize a new ten-year agreement with De Beers – which was signed late last month – and now intends to re-engage, he said. The firm has retained its workforce and invested in equipment despite the weak diamond market, according to Papsimedov.

Botswana set aside 890-million pula ($60-million) in the 2024/25 budget to acquire the shares. Kenewendo’s predecessor later said that sum should buy the nation a 49.9% stake in HB Antwerp, given the deepening downturn in the diamond market.

The diamond industry is facing a crisis as demand in China, a key consumer, has slumped and lab-grown gems continue to win share in some segments. Anglo American is planning to offload its De Beers unit – in which Botswana owns 15% of the shares – and has written down the value of the subsidiary by $4.5-billion in little over a year.

Botswana typically provides about two-thirds of De Beers’s annual production, while the sales of the gems account for more than a third of the country’s budget revenue and most of its foreign exchange earnings.

HB Antwerp is also active in Botswana through an agreement to buy large stones produced at Lucara Diamond’s Karowe mine.

If the Belgian firm makes contact again, “we will see if it makes sense,” said Kenewendo, who was appointed to her post by President Duma Boko in November.