The new 10-year sales agreement gives the government a 30% share of Debswana's sales up from 25% for the first five years and a 40% share for the following five years.
The Botswana government signed a new diamond sales agreement crucial to its economy with the De Beers mining company on Tuesday after seven years of negotiations.
Botswana has unearthed all of the world's largest rough diamonds over the last decade, including a 2,492-carat stone discovered last year that was the second-biggest diamond ever dug out of a mine and the biggest in more than a century.
The deal gives the government an increasing share of diamond sales through the Debswana company — its joint venture with De Beers, a subsidiary of Anglo American.
But Debswana's total sales in the first nine months of 2024 were $1.53 billion, according to the Botswana central bank, down more than 50% from $3.19 billion during the same period in 2023.
