De Beers is confident its diamond business relocation from London to Gaborone is on schedule, having established a migration steering committee to ensure that every milestone is reached.
┬áResident Director Neo Moroka revealed on the sidelines of the De Beers second vendor’s day that the company has spent P24 million on refurbishing its residential properties and rented 50 additional properties from the local market to accommodate its London staff.┬á
Moroka said currently a total of 80 people are working under the De Beers global sight holders’ sales function with 50 percent being citizens. The number is expected to increase to 172 by the end of November this year.
┬á“The complete relocation of the London staff to the DTCB [Diamond Trading Company Botswana] is expected by the end of October this year. The reason for putting staff from London at the DTCB is to facilitate the attainment of synergies and transfer of skills and knowledge as well as the sharing of best practice,” he said.
Moroka said the company will house its equipment at the DTCB where state of the art site floor is being created for sight holders and brokers.
“We expect that the modifications will be completed by the end of August this year at a cost of P180 million. The bulk of furniture, art and decor totalling P10 million will be sourced locally,” revealed Moroka.
 The diamond business migration is not without hurdles though. It concerns Moroka that absence of an executive lounge at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, the lack of facilities to meet religious requirements for business people and the lack of direct flights to Gaborone from various destinations are a challenge.
“We are pleased that these concerns are actively being considered by government and are being addressed by the local migration committee,” he said.?That Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Keletso Rakhudu, admitted the challenge and promised that government would do everything in its power to ensure that there is no unnecessary inconvenience to traders.
“We do not want to unnecessarily maroon diamond traders in Johannesburg because we are unable to shorten their travel times,” Rakhudu said, responding to concerns about the lack of direct flights from London to Gaborone and from the Middle East.
The De Beers Vendors’ Day is meant to be a networking day, which accords companies a platform to showcase their products and services.┬á The Vendors’ Day was held under the theme: “Promoting Business and Service Delivery Linkages between Small, Medium and Large Enterprises”.
