Botswana, where four of the world’s richest deposits are located, was producing around 24.2m carats of diamonds until 2019, thus making Gaborone the second-largest producer globally, behind Russia. No less than 65% of the supply from De Beers (the country’s preferred partner ever since it gained independence in 1966) is extracted from the country’s diamond mines.
The group, which was established in South Africa and is a subsidiary of Anglo American, has a 50% shareholding with the state in two companies: Debswana, which is responsible for operating the four mines, and Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB), which was founded to value the diamonds.