Masisi brags of standing up to De Beers
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says he was able to take head-on the giant, De Beers and conquered when it was not fashionable.
He said he was being attacked by his opponents accusing him of trying to destroy the country. The Government and De Beers Group last July announced that they have reached an agreement in principle on a new 10-year Sales Agreement for Debswana’s rough diamond production through to 2033 and a 25-year extension of the Debswana mining licences through to 2054.
The agreement represents a new chapter in an enduring diamond partnership by focusing on four key areas of value: Industry leadership - Significantly expanding Botswana’s footprint and leadership position across the diamond value chain, including a transition to increasing the share of Debswana supply sold via Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) to 50 per cent over the duration of the agreement. From the start of the new contract period,
ODC will receive 30 per cent of Debswana production, progressively increasing to 50 per cent by the final year of the contract, ensuring a sustainable transition path for both partners.
Addressing a political rally in Goodhope, Masisi stated that the opposition has been fighting him on the deal. He said there has been arguments that without De Beers, Botswana will fail as De Beers know how to sell diamonds better. “I took De Beers head on and I won. I did not defeat them for my own benefit but I did it for you as Batswana. I wanted you and your children to benefit from your own diamonds. The deal that was there, I scrutinized it and discovered that we were being disadvantaged. We were not benefiting satisfactorily. The deal was long overdue and was not in line with our ambition and the times to become a knowledge based economy,” said Masisi.
He told the rally that after scrutinizing the deal, he prepared himself to face De Beers. He revealed that in June this year, the parties will be finalising the deal having dealt with the first phase of the deal. He said the initial agreement was a slavery one. “We have signed the first agreement. What we are left with now is that there was this clause which disadvantaged us. We have since removed that clause because when you compare us with other diamond producing countries in the world, we are number one in terms of value and ranked second in terms of production but we were being robbed. We were getting less from the annual US 15 billion which is made. That does not make sense,” said the president.
According to Masisi, this is the best decision ever to be done for the country. He argued that there was no way Botswana was to arrive at high income status with the previous deal. We have unlocked the door for the poverty house where we have been trapped as a country. “The opposition have been thinking in a vacuum which is why they went all out to attack me. I am going to use their words which they used to attack me. I am very proud of what I did and do not regret it,” said Masisi.