Diamond mining company – Debswana has finally appointed a substantive managing director, three years after the position became vacant.
The Debswana top post became vacant after the death of the then managing director – Albert Milton who died in August 2019. Since the death of Milton, Lynette Armstrong, Chief Financial Officer, was appointed on acting capacity until this past week when the company confirmed that it has appointed Andrew Motsomi as its new substantive on a five year contract effective June 2022.
Motsomi – who is a former deputy governor at Bank of Botswana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Botswana, a post-graduate Diploma in Economic Development and Planning from the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Victoria University of Manchester.
Debswana says as deputy governor, Motsomi 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.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group and Chairman of the Debswana Board, said: “While we were fortunate to have had several very strong candidates for this important role, the Debswana Board saw Mr Motsomi as the ideal person to take the business forward. His leadership and strategic insight, honed over a long and distinguished career with the Bank of Botswana, will be fundamentally important in helping Debswana continue to deliver outstanding value, both for the people of Botswana and for De Beers Group”.
Debswana is a joint venture between Anglo American unit De Beers and the Botswana government. It sells 75 percent of its output to De Beers with the balance taken up by the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company. In 2021, its rough diamonds sales jumped 64 percent driven by the reopening of key global consumer markets following a Covid 19 hit in 2020.
