Okavango Diamond Company Announces Key Staff Appointments

Marcus ter Haar

(IDEX Online News) – Marcus ter Haar, former head of Sales and Marketing at DTC Botswana, is the newly appointed deputy managing director of Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), Botswana’s new diamond trading enterprise. The appointment is one of several announced on Tuesday.

Other newly filled positions include Susanne Swaniker-Tettey, CFO of Boteti Mining Company as CFO; Andrew Faulkner, a diamond production expert at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) to the role of operations manager and Timothy Lee, currently responsible for diamond sales for South African mining company Trans Hex as sales manager.

“We are delighted to introduce Okavango Diamond Company’s executive and senior management team,” said Jacob Thamage, chairman of the ODC board. “Together, these appointments mark a significant step forward for the company as we prepare ODC for its commercial launch next year. Our newest team members reflect the rich blend of national and international skills that we require to build a sustainable and globally competitive new diamond sales channel here in Botswana.

“The new team will join the company over the course of the first quarter of 2013,” said managing director Toby Frears. “I have every confidence that, together, we will deliver on Government’s objectives and establish a sales channel that will further strengthen Botswana’s expanding position in the global diamond market." 

ODC is set to launch in mid-2013. The company has been created to provide Botswana with its own sustainable, commercial diamond sales channel.

It was established following the renewal of the Debswana Sales Agreement between the government of Botswana and De Beers. The agreement allows the government to purchase and sell an increasing proportion of Debswana production, reaching 15 percent by 2016.