Debswana is forging ahead with the expansion project despite a decline in the global diamond market.
In 1947 a young copywriter by the name of Frances Gerety coined the tagline “A Diamond is Forever”, and De Beers created what today we call the ‘Diamond Dream’. Today Botswana is a big part of that dream.
Nelson Mandela was sufficiently worried that the 2007 film ‘Blood Diamond’ would have a negative impact on those African economies which were reliant on diamond sales, that he reached out to Warner Brothers before its release.
So when Lucara Diamonds announced the recovery of a 2,492-carat diamond, what a fantastic opportunity for Botswana to go to the major diamond consuming markets and showcase exactly what Botswana and diamonds are really about.
Years ago I noticed a plaque hanging on the wall in a private equity group in Mayfair that read: “The Roman Empire wasn’t built by holding committee meetings; it was built by annihilating the opposition”. The same applies to lab grown diamonds.