Debswana Diamond Company, which has in the past few years had offices in different locations around Gaborone, has found a new home at the Gaborone Corporate Centre, located along the airport road.
Debswana Corporate Communications Manager, Rachel Mothibatsela, told The Telegraph that a decision was made to consolidate all the offices into one centre, mainly to optimise office accommodation and all other related services, to enable delivery of the high performance promise in the most cost efficient manner.
She said the relocation took place in phases, from February until mid-May and added that all the departments have moved.
“The restructuring exercise was completed in 2011 and the relocation to Debswana Corporate Centre took place in 2012 and there is no downsizing involved,” said Mothibatsela.
According to Mothibatsela, the company has in the past few years had offices in various parts of Gaborone where Gaborone-based employees were housed. She stated that one of these offices, Debswana Shared Services, was in a rented building near Kgale Mews, while the other was along the airport road and the third one was at the Main Mall.
“This office accommodation model was not efficient and, following the restructuring exercise that ended in 2011, there was an opportunity to review the office accommodation model and align it to the outcomes of the restructuring exercise, whose objective was to improve efficiencies and reduce operational costs across the business,” she explained.
Mothibatsela further highlighted that the development will save costs and improve integration and communication among Debswana employees located in Gaborone.
“We are fully optimising the office space that is available at the Gaborone Corporate Centre, located along the Airport Road, by accommodating all Gaborone-based employees at these premises,” she said.
She further stated that the Gaborone Corporate Centre is not smaller than Debswana House or Debswana Shared Services where some of the employees used to be housed. She said it consists of two buildings, one of which was formerly called the Technical Support Centre, and another, which was the Supply Chain Management building.
“We are accommodating over 250 Gaborone-based employees in these two buildings.”
She said since it is an open plan environment and all Gaborone-based employees are located in one area and not three dispersed locations in Gaborone, it is enhancing communication, efficiencies and team work. “With regards to the image of the company, this will be greatly enhanced in that confusion as to which Debswana office stakeholders require is eliminated and there is only one Debswana building in Gaborone.”
She highlighted that the business case, which covered alternatives, costs and benefits for the relocation, were considered and approved by the Board, which comprises representatives of the Shareholders being the Government of Botswana and De Beers.
“Issues related to costs are internal and, therefore, we are not in a position to share these with the media,” said Mothibatsela.
Contacted by The Telegraph for comment, De Beers Holdings Botswana spokesperson, Chippo Morapedi-Mrara, said, “We will be relocating to Debswana House in mid July 2012.”
She added that De Beers Holdings Botswana is moving offices but the internal structure remains the same.  She also confirmed that De Beers Holdings Botswana will occupy the 5th and 6th floor of Debswana House.
