{"id":43015,"date":"2024-02-03T07:38:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T07:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off"},"modified":"2024-02-03T08:00:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T08:00:06","slug":"masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off","title":{"rendered":"Masisi shifts gears for G7 face-off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The process of consulting with the Group of Seven on how to successfully clamp down on Russian diamonds while not harming innocent producers such as Botswana, has been likened to handholding an elephant through a china shop. Diamond sector veteran, Martin Rapaport, used the analogy recently when discussing the steps the G7 is taking to stop Russian diamonds from entering its market.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an elephant in a China shop. It\u2019s a nice elephant and we are trying to show it how to walk around the shop,\u201d he said in a webinar on the state of the diamond industry.<\/p>\n

As early as April last year, De Beers, whose partnership with Botswana produces the world\u2019s most diamonds by value, met with the US State Department, after picking up reports that tighter sanctions were due from the G7 against Moscow\u2019s stones. At the time, De Beers\u2019 executive vice president for diamond trading, Paul Rowley, revealed that the discussions were focused on ensuring that any further steps against Russian rough diamonds did not inadvertently affect production from countries such as Botswana or trade in areas that are not under sanction.<\/p>\n

The possibility of unintended consequences seemed remote at the time, but in hindsight was highly probable. As Rapaport cautioned at the recent webinar, governments should not be expected to act outside of their interests.<\/p>\n

Part of the tighter G7 action states that from September all polished diamonds should be routed through Antwerp for certification that the stones are not of Russian origin. The G7\u2019s move, however, represents a swing back to Europe for global diamonds at a time when Africa and Botswana specifically is positioning itself as the centre of the global diamond industry. Government has said the move will involve back and forth to Antwerp, higher costs and logistical nightmares at a time when the industry is reeling from a downturn in demand that has depressed prices and rocked producers, polishers, jewellers and diamond-dependent economies such as Botswana.<\/p>\n

Of all the countries in Africa that could be negatively impacted by the Antwerp single node, Botswana is the most vulnerable as its economy relies mainly on diamonds for the bulk of foreign currency receipts and a healthy share of budget revenues. Senior officials from the Office of the President and the Ministry of Minerals and Energy recently hosted a technical team from the G7 which said it was in town to consult on the planned sanctions against Russia. The officials took the team to the world-famous mines and state-of-the art diamond cutting and polishing facilities in Gaborone, showcasing the world-leading certification and traceability systems that literally track even the smallest of stones from mine to finger. The officials showed and explained the importance of diamonds to Botswana\u2019s development and how even the smallest and most fleeting of disruptions could harm critical sectors such as education, health and others. The bull was walked through the china shop, but the G7 team left without giving any assurances. Making his first public remarks on the situation recently, President Masisi, the country\u2019s chief diplomat, struck a noticeably restrained note in outlining his engagement strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a small almost single commodity-based economy but we have diplomatic relations with all the G7 member states and as always with friends, you listen to one another and manage the risks for both. \u201cSo we will continue talking,\u201d he said in Kasane last week. By comparison, last year, as negotiations for a new diamond deal with De Beers dragged on, Masisi moved towards the stick-end of the \u201ccarrot and stick\u201d system of negotiating.<\/p>\n

Clearly exasperated after five years of talks, the President adopted a firm posture in the top-secret talks, a position later publicly confirmed by members of government\u2019s negotiation team as well as De Beers\u2019 executives. \u201cI refuse and I refuse on your behalf this agreement of slavery; we have to throw it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if we are litigated against for it, we refuse because the truth is that the returns from these diamonds must be for Batswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot engage a shepherd for your cattle for his expertise and he says the cattle are his. He\u2019s still a shepherd,\u201d Masisi said at a traditional meeting in May. Known as \u201cbig stick diplomacy\u201d the negotiating approach popularised by former US president, Theodore Roosevelt, involves \u201cnegotiating peacefully but also having strength in case things go wrong\u201d. At face value the powerplay was balanced as De Beers is the most important economic actor in the country, but Botswana is equally De Beers\u2019 most important economic entity at global level.<\/p>\n

to page 09<\/p>\n

Fresh off grinding out the historic deal with De Beers, President Mokgweetsi Masisi finds himself in yet another face-off, this time with an even bigger giant \u2013 the world\u2019s superpowers. His initial comments on the issue show he\u2019s digging deeper into his diplomatic arsenal, writes MBONGENI MGUNI<\/p>\n

Source: Mmegi Online<\/b><\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Botswana. The process of consulting with the Group of Seven on how to successfully clamp down on Russian diamonds while not harming innocent producers such as Botswana, has been likened to handholding an elephant through a china shop. Diamond sector veteran, Martin Rapaport, used the analogy recently when discussing the steps the G7 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":43014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,244],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-43015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nMasisi shifts gears for G7 face-off - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The process of consulting with the Group of Seven on how to successfully clamp down on Russian diamonds while not har ...\" \/>\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-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Masisi shifts gears for G7 face-off\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The process of consulting with the Group of Seven on how to successfully clamp down on Russian diamonds while not har ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\" \/>\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=\"2024-02-03T07:38:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-03T08:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/02\/sm_1706934513.569841.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\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=\"4 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-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Masisi shifts gears for G7 face-off\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-03T07:38:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-03T08:00:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\"},\"wordCount\":836,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/02\/sm_1706934513.569841.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/masisi-shifts-gears-for-g7-face-off\",\"name\":\"Masisi shifts gears for G7 face-off - 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