Botswana takes industry centre stage at JCK

MBONGENI MGUNI | Tuesday June 2, 2026 15:38

The JCK Show, held in Las Vegas, annually brings together thousands of delegates from across the global diamond industry to both showcase and trade in the precious stones, while also engaging with the issues facing their industry.

The House of Botswana, a platform of natural diamond partners led by government, hosted several engagements at the JCK, helping the country stand out in its efforts to coalesce the industry around a united strategy for recovery.

Interviewed by JCK magazine in the resort city, Minerals and Energy minister, Bogolo Kenewendo, said development diamonds can position Botswana as a leader in branding and building worldwide collaboration.

“When you unpack what development is for us, it’s building sustainable livelihoods. “It is building opportunities for those that were born [in Botswana]. But it’s also the nature regeneration that we fund. “It is flipping what the narrative has been in the last couple of years for natural diamonds,” she was quoted as saying by JCK Magazine.

On her official social media, Kenewendo spoke about how the country wanted to reposition the country’s place in the diamond industry, taking a central role and leveraging its 60 years of leadership in the precious stones.

Botswana is broadening its role as a cutting and polishing centre, partnering for joint exploration programmes even outside the country and also pushing for a greater role in the downstream industry.

Besides being a founding and influential member of the anti-conflict diamonds group, the Kimberly Process, Botswana last year co-founded the Luanda Accord, alongside several other African diamond producing nations as well as companies and industry bodies, to jointly market natural diamonds.

The joint industry-wide campaign includes dedicated funding for marketing under a coordinated narrative highlighting transparency, traceability, the developmental good of diamonds and their enduring luxury positioning.

Last week, Botswana was formally admitted into the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), the official organisation of the international diamond trading sector which promotes the principles of trust, transparency and integrity in the industry. Angola, another diamond producer, was also admitted.

JCK magazine further quoted Kenewendo as saying from the agreement with De Beers, Botswana wants to see diamonds build out active economic diversification, with a percentage of the profits going into building the economy.

“We are calling for all the other partners that want to join us as we crowdfund for the Diamonds for Development Fund to come in and see what the opportunities are and how we build a non-diamond-dominated reliant economy, because a mono economy and mono-commodity economy is fragile. We know that the resiliency of our economy will depend on diversification,” JCK magazine quoted Kenewendo as saying.