De Beers , JVs Spend P4.3bn On Botswana Firms
Correspondent | Monday May 8, 2017 15:43
The spend with Botswana-based businesses, which represented 81% of the Group’s and its joint ventures’ total procurement spend in Botswana, comprised payments for both core business and ancillary services.
De Beers Group and its joint ventures also increased the amount they invested in community development programmes in Botswana by 31% to P124 million in 2016.
Funding was provided for a range of projects, including upgrades to community health and education facilities, accommodation programmes for key workers and cultural tourism development.
Recognising the importance of Botswana’s rich ecosystem, De Beers Group and its joint ventures also ran a number of programmes designed to protect species under threat or in danger of extinction.
This included a rhino conservation initiative, supported by Debswana – the 50/50 joint venture between De Beers Group and the Government of Botswana – to increase the country’s rhino population through a breeding programme that then releases rhinos back into the wild.
As a result of improved financial and operating performance, globally De Beers Group returned US$5 billion to stakeholders – a 26 per cent rise on 2015 – through taxes, payments and dividends.
This emphasised the importance of the relationships with stakeholders, including Governments, communities, suppliers and joint venture partners in 2016.
De Beers operates joint ventures exploration, mining and sales operations with Governments in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada