Govt to take over De Beers stake in Morupule Colliery

The Government intends to bring in a strategic partner to replace De Beers in a process calculated to ensure that Botswana has more control over the prized national asset whose supplies are key to the crucial 600-megawatt Morupule B project.

Presently, the government indirectly owns 50 percent of Morupule Colliery Limited (MCL), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana, the diamond mining giant in which the government holds 50 percent equity. De Beers, which indirectly holds the remaining shareholding in MCL, has indicated its desire to move out of the colliery.