Botswana and De Beers Celebrate 40 Years of Partnership
June 24, 09 by IDEX Online Staff Reporter
De Beers is marking its 40 year partnership with the Republic of Botswana. Cooperation between the diamond miner and the African government started with a lease agreement for the Orapa Mine and the establishment of the company that eventually became Debswana.
The Botswana diamond industry accounts for approximately 25 percent of all jobs in the country. With a staff of around 6,000 people, Debswana is the largest private employer in the country with production worth approximately $3.2 billion in diamonds. In net worth, diamond exports account for 76 percent of Botswana's exports.
One of the impressive benefits of the cooperation between De Beers and its Botswana workers is the fact that Debswana was the first mining company in the world to offer free anti-retroviral treatment to employees, their spouses, and their children, as part of a comprehensive disease management program, existing outside a medical insurance scheme.
Currently, De Beers has a number of diamond mines in Botswana, in addition to Orapa, the world's riches diamond mine. Debswana, which mines the mines, is a 50/50 partnership between De Beers and the government.
Besides diamond mining, De Beers also has a local allocation, the Botswana Sight, to local diamond polishing plants and is in the process of relocating it global rough diamond sorting facilities from London to Gaborone.