Economics

Diamonds have made and continue to make a significant contribution to the development of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Sorting at DTCB

Diamond Sorting at DTC Botswana

…when you buy a diamond from De Beers, part of that money still today goes to help build and maintain roads and clean water systems in Botswana. You can drive anywhere in that country and you can see services that have been paid for by a legal framework, strong regulations, and a national consensus that the money from the earth and its riches should be spent on the people of Botswana.”

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America at a press conference in Abuja, Nigeria, 12 August 2009

This success owes a great deal to the effectiveness of our approach to partnership, as well as the sound management and strategic foresight of our host governments.

This contribution has been most marked in Botswana and Namibia, where diamonds remain the largest single contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), export earnings and government revenues.

The rapid development of Botswana and the success of De Beers, since
we partnered with the Government of the Republic of Botswana (GRB) in 1967, illustrates how the effective integration of both company and national development objectives can lead to the development of a powerful business model.

This model is based on the convergence of two compatible aims:

First, our need for long term access to natural resources in a secure and stable environment.

Second, a government’s need to generate reliable revenues from natural resources to invest in its people.

This model is particularly important in diamond mining given the long lead times before investment in a mine returns a profit and the fact that the life of a diamond mine is typically measured in decades rather than years.

We believe that this business model based on forging effective mutually beneficial partnerships enables the transformation of natural resources
into shared and lasting national wealth.

Did you know?

In 2010 De Beers paid US$1.2 billion in taxes and royalties to governments in Africa

Issues and important questions that are addressed in the Report to Society 2010:

  • Maintaining value for producers
  • Governance and revenue transparency
  • Success of beneficiation
  • Driving local growth, diversification and capacity building