Gaborone — Botswana has yet to fully capitalise on the immense value addition opportunities in the global diamond pipeline, despite significant potential across the sector, industry leaders told the Future of Mining Summit on Monday.

Presenting on "Advancing National Economic Transformation Through Diamond Beneficiation and Value Chain Development," DTC Botswana Managing Director, Ms Serty Leburu highlighted the substantial economic value embedded in different segments of the diamond industry.

According to her, the exploration, mining, and recovery sector is valued at approximately US$14 billion, while sorting, valuing, and sales accounted for US$18 billion. Cutting and polishing presents an additional US$34 billion opportunity, and the downstream jewellery and consumer sales segment represents a US$75 billion market.

"Botswana has not fully taken advantage of these opportunities, but immense potential lies ahead," Ms Leburu said.

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She acknowledged that the country may lack sufficient skilled manpower to handle the entire value chain domestically but emphasised that this should not be a barrier. "A lot of businesses nowadays operate globally," she noted, pointing out that polishing and jewellery manufacturing were already done overseas. Botswana could still play a significant role in the international market and repatriate the proceeds.

Ms Leburu called on the country to be deliberate and intentional in its approach to the sector. She stressed the need to scale up localisation across the entire value chain -- particularly in cutting, polishing, and valuation -- rather than focusing solely on mining.

On environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, she observed that Botswana currently bore most of the environmental costs. Distributing these costs across the value chain would require active participation in downstream activities. She also highlighted opportunities to leverage existing infrastructure around mines, such as boreholes in areas like Jwaneng, to develop agriculture, fisheries, and tourism sites. This, she said, could create sustainable economic activities once mining operations wind down and help redistribute populations from railway areas to mining communities.

Ms Leburu concluded by urging stakeholders to focus on clear visions, statistics, and timelines for beneficiation gains. She advocated for strong public-private partnerships (PPPs) in downstream activities to enable citizen participation and value extraction. She also called for intentional diversification around mining villages through agricultural tourism, orchards, and gardens to share environmental burdens and ensure long-term sustainability.

Complementing the discussion on beneficiation, Absa Bank Botswana Managing Director, Ms Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane focused her presentation on "Financing Botswana's Next Mining Economy: Driving Economic Diversification, Citizen Empowerment & Shared Prosperity."

She painted a picture of an evolving global mining landscape where investors increasingly prioritise ESG standards, local participation, and sustainable value creation.

"Strategic financing must go beyond traditional project funding to enable beneficiation, support citizen-owned enterprises, and build resilient value chains," Ms Pheko-Moshagane emphasised.

She underscored the financial sector's critical role in bridging mining with broader economic goals, including industrialisation, skills development, and renewable energy integration. Drawing on Absa's initiatives, she highlighted the bank's Sustainable Finance Issuance Framework, including Botswana's first sustainable bond listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange and its support for SMEs, contractors as well as entrepreneurs in the mining ecosystem.

"The mining sector has laid the foundation of our economy," she noted. "Now, it must power the next phase of growth, connecting resources, technology, and human potential toward shared prosperity."

Both speakers emphasised collaboration between government, banks, mining companies, and communities as essential for transforming mineral wealth into diversified and inclusive economic growth.

BOPA