As global diamond markets falter and Angola courts southern Africa’s producers with a provocative invitation to buy De Beers, one of Botswana’s most seasoned voices in the extractive industries has a warning: tread carefully.
Sheila Khama, a former De Beers chief executive and widely regarded among Africa’s experts on extractive industries, is urging Botswana to resist the temptation of acquiring a controlling stake in the 137-year-old diamond giant. Her message is as much about caution as it is about vision. She says Botswana must not let its most prized resource, nor its decades-long partnership with De Beers, be dictated by external forces.
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