{"id":425919,"date":"2026-01-20T17:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425919\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:30:08","slug":"africas-top-jewel-producer-botswana-struggles-to-sell-diamonds-amid-85-oversupply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425919\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s top jewel producer Botswana struggles to sell diamonds amid 85% oversupply"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n        The finance ministry reported that the country\u2019s diamond inventory reached 12 million carats at the end of December 2025, about 85% above the government\u2019s allowable level of 6.5 million carats, according to the 2026\/27 Budget Strategy Paper seen by Reuters.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        Diamonds contribute around one-third of Botswana\u2019s national revenue and three-quarters of its foreign exchange receipts, highlighting the sector\u2019s critical role.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        The finance ministry warned that \u201cover the short term, production is expected to remain broadly unchanged, until the level of inventories is drawn down closer to minimum allowable levels, creating room for additional production\u201d, signaling constrained near-term growth.\n    <\/p>\n<p>                    <img width=\"300\" height=\"168\" alt=\"The glut comes amid persistent weak global demand and falling prices, leaving the country unable to boost output to lift its economy.\" title=\"The glut comes amid persistent weak global demand and falling prices, leaving the country unable to boost output to lift its economy.\" class=\"image lazyloaded imgWithMetaData\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'168'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-original=\"https:\/\/ocdn.eu\/pulscms-transforms\/1\/v_qktkpTURBXy9kZjU5ZmNkYmNmY2JiYmM5OGY2YTk3NTk3Njk5YjQ2MS5qcGeSlQMAAM0BLMyolQLNASzMqMLD\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>        Botswana\u2019s revenues under pressure from oversupply<\/p>\n<p>\n        The oversupply comes as the country\u2019s economy struggles. Botswana\u2019s GDP is projected to shrink by almost 1% in 2025, following a 3% contraction the previous year, largely due to collapsing diamond prices under pressure from <a href=\"https:\/\/africa.businessinsider.com\/local\/markets\/africas-diamond-powerhouses-angola-and-botswana-are-in-talks-to-take-over-the-worlds\/sjcxw0s\" id=\"b9fea8f6-66c4-4841-be99-f282b51bc312\" data-link-role-code=\"open_new_tab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">lab-grown gems and weak global demand<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        Debswana, the government\u2019s 50\/50 joint venture with De\u202fBeers that accounts for 90% of diamond sales, temporarily suspended production at some mines last year.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        The ministry highlighted the broader risk: \u201cA slowdown in mining activity would reduce government\u2019s fiscal revenues from the sector,\u201d a key concern as diamond earnings historically drive public spending and foreign exchange inflows.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        With limited scope to raise production, Botswana\u2019s government faces mounting pressure to diversify revenue streams and strengthen non-mining sectors.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        State-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) offered around 1 million carats of rough diamonds in a one-off \u201cclosed\u201d tender. Unlike its regular, pre-scheduled auctions, the sale was organised at short notice.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        Sources said the ad-hoc auction was aimed at raising quick cash for the government, with two additional tenders planned later in the year.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n        Diamonds remain the backbone of Botswana\u2019s economy, accounting for about 80% of exports and roughly a third of government revenue, but the sector has been under sustained pressure.\n    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The finance ministry reported that the country\u2019s diamond inventory reached 12 million carats at the end of December&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-425919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}