The Government of the Republic of Botswana and the De Beers Group, the shareholders of Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTC Botswana), on Monday announced the appointment of Tabake Kobedi as Managing Director of DTC Botswana, effective 10 January 2012.
Kobedi is currently the Group Finance Manager for Debswana, managing a diverse range of activities in finance, supply chain, risk management and insurance.  He has been a senior figure and key driver of the organisational alignment initiative across Debswana.
He will spend the first nine to 12 months of his tenure gaining a deeper and comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the mid-stream and downstream parts of the diamond value chain. He will spend considerable time visiting the cutting centres to meet Sightholders and industry stakeholders, and will travel regularly to associated DTC offices.
During Kobedi’s transition into his new role, Paul Rowley, currently the DTC’s Executive Director for Sorting, Valuing and Purchasing, will serve as Acting Managing Director of DTC Botswana. Both Kobedi and Rowley will be working to ensure the smooth and successful transition of the DTC’s London-based sales activity to Gaborone by the end of 2013.
Commenting on the appointment, Boikobo Paya, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and Chairman of DTC Botswana said Kobedi brings a wealth of experience to DTC Botswana, having worked in the Diamond Industry for more than fifteen years.
 
“We welcome Tabake to DTC Botswana and we look forward to an excellent working and fruitful relationship.”
Varda Shine, CEO of DTCI, commented on the appointment:
“We are delighted with Tabake’s appointment as the first Motswana to lead DTC Botswana.┬á With the eyes and energy of the diamond world increasingly focused on Botswana and the upcoming move of the DTC, we are excited about the experience and skill that Tabake will bring to DTC Botswana.”
Both shareholders would like to publicly thank Brian McDonald for his four years of leadership at DTC Botswana, during which he oversaw the transformation of a diamond sorting and valuing entity to the world-class sorting, valuing and marketing company that DTC Botswana is today.
