Africa-Press – Botswana. Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) is entrusted with selling 25 percent of Debswana’s 24 million carats of annual rough diamonds, says its Managing Director, Mr Mmetla Masire.
Welcoming DRC President, Mr Felix Tshisekedi, who is on a three day-state visit to Botswana, during a tour of the company facility on Wednesday, Mr Masire said the company was established in 2012 as part of government’s strategy to provide direction, facilitate issues relating to accessibility of the market as well as allow government to understand pricing and market trends.
He said it was also intended to support government’s broader strategy for the development of the Botswana diamond industry.
He said initially, ODC was awarded a 10 per cent of Debswana diamonds to sell, which gradually increased to the current 25 per cent, as government was satisfied with the service it rendered.
He said the ODC’s strategic vision was to be a leader in the sale of rough diamonds, adding it had established itself as a hallmark in the diamond industry over the last 10 years.
Mr Masire said the company had managed to continue with business, weathering the recession of 2015, and experiencing its largest single day sale in 2022, when it sold diamonds worth about P2.464 billion.
In response to President Tshisekedi’s inquiry why the company was called Okavango and whether the name had any significance to the diamond industry, he said the name derived from the Okavango Delta, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
He said as the Okavango was a place of significance to the country as a tourist destination, the name was to be used to sell the country to the whole world, adding that tourism was one of the leading revenue generators for Botswana.
President Tshisekedi’s visit is expected to strengthen and expand bilateral relations between the two nations, in the area of diamond mining among others.
The president goes back home today.
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