Mokgweetsi Masisi, Botswana's president, has said the country won't cooperate with the UK-based diamond giant De Beers if it refuses to provide a favorable review of a 2011 agreement on the diamonds mined in the southern African country, media reports.
While addressing supporters of the governing Botswana Democratic Party on Sunday, Masisi stated his government's intention to seek a mutually favorable outcome of negotiations over a review of the diamonds agreement with De Beers.
“If we don't achieve a win-win situation each party will have to pack its bags and go,” Masisi said.
Initially, the 2011 agreement was set to terminate in 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the parties agreed to extend it to June 2023.
Under the terms of the agreement, the government of Botswana only received 10 percent of the diamonds, which was later raised to 25 percent in 2020, through its Okavango Diamond Company, while De Beers owned 90 percent of them.
Botswana realized it was getting a raw deal after getting a "glimpse into how the diamond market works," according to the president.
"We are upping the stakes because we want a larger share from our diamonds," said Masisi. "It can't be business as usual."
Earlier, in September 2022, in order to build up its national reserves, Botswana announced a new policy that requires companies producing high-value minerals in the country to pay half of the production to the government in refined mineral produce.