About us

Al Cook became Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group in February 2023.

He joined De Beers from Equinor, where he was Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production International, overseeing businesses across Africa, the Americas and Europe. Prior to this, he held the position of Executive Vice President for Global Strategy and Business Development, where he led the development of Equinor’s energy transition strategy.

Before joining Equinor in 2016, Cook worked for BP for 20 years. He took on a range of commercial, project development and operations roles in the United Kingdom and United States, including acting as Offshore Installation Manager on the Cleeton Platform in the North Sea. He worked in Vietnam and Russia before moving to Azerbaijan in 2009. Here he led the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, a $40bn project that brought natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe for the first time. Cook’s final role at BP was Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Cook holds a master’s degree in Natural Sciences from St John’s College, University of Cambridge. In 2005, he completed the International Executive Programme at INSEAD in France. He is a trustee on the board of The Power of Nutrition, a charity supporting infant health.

Richard was appointed Chief Financial Officer in October 2023.

Richard joined De Beers in 2017 as the Group Financial Controller, and subsequently assumed responsibility for the Business Planning and Business Development functions. He is also currently a Board Member of the Element Six joint venture with Umicore.

He has a strong track record of senior multi-national financial roles throughout his career, including at Anglo American Thermal Coal in South Africa where he led the finance department and supported the transformation of that business prior to its demerger from Anglo American. Whilst at Thermal Coal, he was also a Director of Mafube Coal, the Anglo-American joint venture with Exxaro, and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Richards Bay Coal Terminal, one of the leading coal export terminals in the world.

Richard trained as a Chartered Accountant at PwC and holds a BSc in Biology from the University of Nottingham.

Mr Motsomi joins Debswana from the Bank of Botswana, where he held several key strategic and leadership positions, most recently as Deputy Governor of the Bank. As Deputy Governor, he represented Botswana regionally and internationally in various forums, including the country’s membership of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also worked on attachment at the IMF in Washington DC as a Special Appointee, as well as serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis.

Mr. Motsomi holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting; post-graduate Diploma in Economic Development and Planning and Master’s degree in Economics, from the University of Botswana, African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) and the Victoria University of Manchester respectively. In addition to his academic credentials, Mr. Motsomi has attended various executive programmes and professional seminars in institutions based in New York, USA; Frankfurt, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Stellenbosch, South Africa and the Bank of England, London. Some of the programmes and seminars focused inter- alia on: - Executive Leadership Development, Reserves Management and the Formulation and Implementation of Monetary Policy.

His strong leadership and strategic insight, honed over a long and distinguished career with the Bank of Botswana, will help contribute to Debswana’s continued delivery of outstanding value, both for the people of Botswana and De Beers Group.