The managing director of the Diamond Trading Company International, Varda Shine, says 86 DTC professionals will move from London to Gaborone as part of the agreement signed last year between De Beers and government of Botswana to move sales functions of the company from London to Gaborone by 2013.
“Already 30 people have relocated to Botswana and the remainder will come by the end of next year,” Shine told a Diamond Conference in Gaborone this week.
In an interview with Sunday Standard, Shine said by August a total of 65 employees will have complemented the staff of DTCI. The company has already employed 47 people from around and they are incorporating 65 employees from De Beers.
In terms of diamonds, Shine said by mid September diamonds from Canada, Namibia and South Africa will join Botswana diamonds.
“This is when aggregation will begin, looking at where there is need for that,” she said.
“Diamonds worth between $6 billion and $6.5 billion will be sold from Botswana,” she added.
Shine said comparatively Gaborone is far behind in a lot of things to London, which pause challenges for them in the process of relocation. However she was positive the deadline is going to be met.
“Botswana still has a long way to go in terms of internet connectivity, hotels and transport,” she said.
Air transport in terms of direct flights from where sightholders come was still a challenge as many of them have to pass through South Africa, calling for issues of transit visas. The transportation and safety of diamonds also needs to be improved if Botswana is to score high on its quest to become a diamond hub of the world.
