The launch of aggregation, which has been taking place in London for the past 80 years, marks the delivery of the first phase of the migration of De Beers sorting, sales and marketing business (DTC International) to Botswana. It will see P45 billion ($6 billion) worth of diamonds now passing through Botswana. "Relocation of DTC sales functions from London to Gaborone will be key in facilitating the establishment of activities which will drive Botswana's mineral policy objectives of encouraging linkages with the rest of the economy to expand value addition activities or beneficiation.
These include amongst others diamond trading, diamond cutting and polishing, tourism and hospitality, and other support services such as transport, diamond banking, gemological functions and laboratories. This indeed is a key milestone as we continue with the journey of diamond beneficiation with a view to diversifying the economy," said Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe at the launch.As part of the 2011 sales and marketing agreement, De Beers and government agreed to relocate DTC International's aggregation, sales and marketing activities to Botswana.This is part of ambitious plans to transform Gaborone into a diamond centre in the mould of cities such as Mumbai, Antwerp and Tel Aviv. Aggregation involves the blending of categories of rough diamonds like-for-like regardless of their country of origin, then splitting them into appropriate types and quantities to be sold to clients known as sightholders in the diamond industry. This means, this month's sight (28-31 August) will be the first with the aggregation of all De Beers' diamonds having taken place in Gaborone.
