Debswana shelves plans to sell to third parties

Stung by the recent sharp decline in demand for rough by DTC sightholders, the government - through Debswana - has been trying to find alternative markets for break off from the monopoly sales agreement with De Beers.

Debswana, which is a 50-50 partnership between the government and De Beers, is bound by contractual agreements to sell all its production through the DTC. Asked to comment on these plans as well as a recent visit by officials from the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, Debswana's public relations manager, Esther Kanaimba, admitted that the company was looking at selling diamonds to third parties as a crisis management strategy at one point.