{"id":48276,"date":"2024-05-09T18:14:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T18:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=48276"},"modified":"2024-05-09T17:42:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T17:42:50","slug":"president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests","title":{"rendered":"President of Botswana vows to protect its interests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country\u2019s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond giant De Beers, should BHP Group acquire Anglo American.<\/b><\/p>\n

Anglo, which rejected a BHP proposal valuing the mining company at about $39 billion, owns the other 85% of De Beers.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed deal, BHP \u2014 once a major diamond producer itself \u2014 said that De Beers would be put on a strategic review. Anglo, the only major miner with a big diamond business, has already been reviewing the future of units, including De Beers. Botswana has not been formally approached by either BHP or Anglo, Masisi said in a television interview Wednesday with CNBC Africa in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way would we allow ourselves to willingly be made redundant or irrelevant,\u201d the president said.\u201cSo Botswana will respond in ways that are protective of its interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Botswana\u2019s concerns potentially add to the swathe of challenges that BHP Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry faces in pulling off an ambitious but complex deal.<\/p>\n

Antitrust authorities from China to South Africa and Japan are likely to scrutinise an acquisition that would create the world\u2019s biggest copper producer.<\/p>\n

BHP\u2019s proposal, which includes a plan for Anglo to spin off its Johannesburg-listed platinum and iron ore units before an eventual takeover of the remaining assets, has already antagonised some members of South Africa\u2019s government.The diamond industry is gradually recovering after the sector almost came to a complete standstill in the second half of last year as De Beers and Russia\u2019s Alrosa \u2014 the two biggest miners \u2014 all but stopped supplies in a desperate attempt to stem a slump in prices.<\/p>\n

That hit earnings at De Beers, which mines more than three-quarters of its diamonds in Botswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of De Beers is fundamentally created by Botswana,\u201d Masisi said. \u201cThat can never be missed by anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Botswana is the world\u2019s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, with the revenues making up the bulk of the southern African country\u2019s budget receipts. Anglo estimates that its total economic contribution to Botswana was $1.16 billion last year, with almost half of that coming from taxes and royalties.<\/p>\n

De Beers agreed to hand over more diamonds to Botswana\u2019s government in negotiations that concluded in the middle of last year, just as the latest deadline for a deal expired.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country\u2019s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond giant De Beers, should BHP Group acquire Anglo American. Anglo, which rejected a BHP proposal valuing the mining company at about $39 billion, owns the other 85% of De Beers. Under the proposed deal, BHP \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":48275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-48276","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":"\nPresident of Botswana vows to protect its interests - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country\u2019s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond gia ...\" \/>\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\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President of Botswana vows to protect its interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country\u2019s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond gia ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\" \/>\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=\"2024-05-09T18:14:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/05\/sm_1715263383.710684.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\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=\"2 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\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"President of Botswana vows to protect its interests\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T18:14:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/05\/sm_1715263383.710684.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\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/president-of-botswana-vows-to-protect-its-interests\",\"name\":\"President of Botswana vows to protect its interests - 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