Ageing Orapa yields its best kept secret

The rare diamond unearthed recently in Orapa PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI
The rare diamond unearthed recently in Orapa PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI

Nothing yet cast in stone’- Ter Haar, regarding sale of the rare Okavango Blue. The country’s oldest diamond mine, Orapa, on Wednesday stunned the world by unveiling an exceptional 20.46 carat blue diamond, a find so rare it challenges the iconic Hope Diamond. And for once, Batswana will be direct, biggest beneficiaries of the discovery Staff Writer, MBONGENI MGUNI writes

From the time the mammoth Lesedi la Rona was unveiled in 2015, as the second largest rough diamond in history to the time it was finally sold in 2017, Batswana questioned what their actual benefit would be in all the fuss.

Although it has propped up the economy and indirectly benefited citizens for decades, the diamond industry has always been out of reach of the ordinary Motswana.

Editor's Comment
Time to end informal sector fronting

The Francistown Umbrella Informal Sector chairperson, David Mbulawa, has highlighted this growing concern, revealing that many local traders are using their licences to facilitate the entry of foreign goods into the market at a fee.Fronting undermines the very fabric of our local economy. It allows foreign traders to exploit the system designed to benefit Batswana, using local licences to cross borders and sell goods at prices intended for local...

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