Deal done, focus shifts to hard graft at ODC

Friday, July 14, 2023 | 680 Views |

Shining opportunities: Joseph Boateng, chief investment officer of a $2.5 billion American fund, examines a large Debswana diamond at the Diamond Trading Company Botswana on Tuesday. More than 10 institutional investors from the US with assets exceeding $2 trillion, were part of the US Africa Business Summit, were they were scouting for investment and trade opportunities

The Okavango Diamond Company expects to move to larger headquarters next April as it prepares to handle more stones from Debswana and possibly other producers. The state diamond trader’s capacity to sell, is key to achieving the country’s ambitions from the recently sealed De Beers deal, notes Staff Writer, MBONGENI MGUNI

State-owned diamond trader, the Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), recently saw the weight of its responsibilities transform from independently selling a percentage of Debswana’s production, to carrying the collective aspirations of the country for greater value accretion in the global diamond industry.

Over the 11 years of its existence, the ODC has felt the troughs and crests of the diamond industry, battling through the recession of 2015, COVID-19 knock of 2020 and the exceptional rebound of 2021 and 2022. The impact on the ODC of the diamond market’s fluctuations, have increased proportionate to its growing Debswana allocation, a situation American hip-hop culture colourfully summarises as “more money, more problems”.

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