De Beers, gov’t talks enter last lap
Friday, January 27, 2023 | 980 Views |
BusinessWeek is informed that with the negotiations having dragged on for five years, finalising a deal by June is seen as key to settling market jitters that have grown, fuelled by speculation about why the industry’s major players are yet to wrap up their talks.
The current agreement expired in September 2020 and has been extended several times, initially because of the pandemic and later without clear explanations by either party. In 2018, when they kicked off their negotiations, both sides had established five-member teams to work on their heads of agreement.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...