Africa-Press – Botswana. The idea to set up the House of Botswana at the just-ended De Beers JCK diamond show, used as a conduit to sell the Botswana natural diamond story to the world, especially to consumers and retailers alike, has been hailed as a great success.
House of Botswana was launched at the world’s largest and most trusted jewellery trade show in Las Vegas by President Advocate Duma Boko, who championed the campaign for natural diamonds amid tough economic times and the existential threat occasioned by lab-grown diamonds.
Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Bogolo Kenewendo said in an interview at the end of the diamond show that the mission to rally the campaign was accomplished.
She attributed the successful campaign to the strategy of erecting the House of Botswana, which served as a launching pad at the show to tell the narrative of the beauty that organic diamonds had achieved in transforming the lives of the people of Botswana.
“Ntlo e ya Botswana e re thusitse go gatelela molaetsa wa gore teemane ya nnete e e tswang mo mmung ke yone mmammang ebile ke yone e e tshwnetseng go dirisiwa ka lebaka la boleng ja yone,” she said that the idea had got other natural diamond producing nations green with envy to ‘steal’ Botswana’s idea to set up a house at the Venetia Expo.
According to Ms Kenewendo, the diamond industry had been crying silently, waiting for leadership that would champion natural diamonds and not shy away from the upset caused by synthetics, which had been a craze, especially among Generation Z and Millennials.
The campaign for natural diamonds by Botswana, she stated, had thus broken the six-year silence.
Minister Kenewendo revealed that the crusade for natural diamonds would be a long-term effort.
“President Boko has instructed that a House of Botswana in jewellery and polished diamonds should be erected in shops so that every luxury jewel should be able to tell the beautiful story of development diamonds of Botswana,” she said.
Several strategies namely defence, differentiation, and consumer education have thus been developed to address this cause.
She was pleased that the market had accepted the concept of distinguishing between natural diamonds and synthetics, as well as the implementation of distinct grading systems for the two types of diamonds.
The development, she said, would make a clear case whenever consumers wanted to buy diamond jewellery.
The recent closure of De Beers Lightbox, a facility used to produce lab-grown diamonds, according to Ms Kenewendo, also came as a respite to the government of Botswana.
She was pleased that several countries such as India and Belgium, had made a U-turn from lab-grown diamonds and had rallied behind organic ones, which was a positive sign that would lead to the recovery of the sector and benefit natural diamond producers, including Botswana.
Meanwhile, President Advocate Boko will deliver a keynote address at the the annual World Federation of Diamond Bourses in New York today before travelling to Budapest, Hungary, to meet with Prime Minister Dr Viktor Orban from June 12 to 15, where the two leaders would delve on issues of international mutual concern and areas ear-marked to strengthen bilateral relations between Botswana and Hungary.
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