{"id":23864,"date":"2023-03-14T18:24:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T18:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations"},"modified":"2023-03-14T18:27:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T18:27:35","slug":"masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations","title":{"rendered":"Masisi lets loose on De Beers, Botswana negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, President Mokgweetsi Masisi\u2019s most recent statement was daring. Masisi has been resolute about his demands for a bigger slice of the pie in the decade\u2019s long diamond mining partnership. Addressing the media at the National Museum in Gaborone on Thursday March 9, 2023 the President did not mince his words, calling a De Beers\u2019 top official\u2019s alleged reaction to his Moshupa speech \u201csilly\u201d and \u201cmisguided\u201d.<\/b><\/p>\n

The President told Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) supporters at a rally in Moshupa in February that his government may consider abandoning their long standing partnership with De Beers should the company refuse to accede to certain demands. The two parties have been locked in negotiations since the expiry of their previous ten year contract in 2021 which negotiations are expected to conclude around June this year. Masisi made it clear the terms of agreement between the two contracting partners have to be \u201cfundamentally altered\u201d. He said should the Botswana government not get their way, there won\u2019t be an agreement in place by the time they conclude their negotiations.<\/p>\n

It would later emerge Masisi already had a scheduled meeting for Friday (next day) with De Beers Group CEO Al Cook, the company\u2019s Co-chairman Bruce Cleaver, and De Beers Global Sight Holder Sales Botswana Chairman Neo Moroka. But the stage had already been set for Masisi, Cook, and Cleaver to meet again at the launch of a National Geographic Society film later in the evening following the press National Museum conference. Cook\u2019s remarks at the launch echoed De Beers\u2019 continued confidence that the two parties will reach a mutually beneficial agreement. \u201cI have had the opportunity to meet with President Masisi and with the leaders in his government.<\/p>\n

If there is one message that has resonated very strongly with me, it is that the people of Botswana are foremost in the minds of the President and the national leadership,\u201d Cook said, perhaps an indirect acknowledgement of Masisi\u2019s relentless demand for Batswana\u2019s bigger slice of the diamond cake. \u201cAnd that is also a commitment I make, on behalf of De Beers. As we plan new investments, new technology, new opportunities here, the people of Botswana will be at the forefront of our thinking. We will work collaboratively with the Government \u2013 our partner for over 50 years \u2013 to bring sustainable benefit to the owners of Botswana\u2019s mineral wealth: the people of Botswana. Rare, authentic, extraordinary, resilient, brilliant, unique, precious,\u201d the De Beers Group CEO said. Masisi had earlier in the day emphasized how Batswana remain the true owners of the diamonds.<\/p>\n

Cleaver was however less direct about the status quo. \u201cAs many of you know, I have had the privilege of serving as CEO of De Beers for the past seven years. When I reflect on my tenure, one of my proudest moments as CEO, was the launch of our Building Forever framework. Building Forever is our blueprint for creating a positive and lasting impact \u2013 wherever we have operations around the world \u2013 that will endure well beyond the discovery of our last diamond,\u201d he said, reffering to the company\u2019s 2030 initiative of partnering with communities, protecting the natural world and accelerating equal opportunity. \u201cA key step in our Building Forever journey was the launch of or partnership with National Geographic in 2021.<\/p>\n

Through Okavango Eternal it\u2019s been our privilege to work alongside the people of Botswana to help build on existing work to protect the source waters of the Okavango Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, President Mokgweetsi Masisi\u2019s most recent statement was daring. Masisi has been resolute about his demands for a bigger slice of the pie in the decade\u2019s long diamond mining partnership. Addressing the media at the National […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-23864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nMasisi lets loose on De Beers, Botswana negotiations - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, Presiden ...If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, Presiden ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Masisi lets loose on De Beers, Botswana negotiations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, Presiden ...If his utterances about Botswana\u2019s negotiations with De Beers at a political rally in Moshupa were reckless, Presiden ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-14T18:24:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-14T18:27:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678805380.65.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1156\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Masisi lets loose on De Beers, Botswana negotiations\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-14T18:24:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-14T18:27:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678805380.65.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-lets-loose-on-de-beers-botswana-negotiations\",\"name\":\"Masisi lets loose on De Beers, Botswana negotiations - 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