As negotiations drag on, President Masisi has played a high-stakes card: threatening to walk away. He has publicly stated that if De Beers won't yield, Botswana will launch its own state-owned diamond trading house.

The agreement places a renewed emphasis on building local capacity in diamond cutting, polishing, and jewelry manufacturing, ensuring more value remains within the country.

However, in recent years, a simmering tension has breached the surface. Accusations that Botswana is getting a "raw deal" have shifted from radical political rhetoric to mainstream government policy. As global diamond markets face unprecedented shifts, the geopolitical and economic struggle over Botswana’s subterranean wealth has reached a critical turning point. The Bedrock of the Partnership: Debswana

While this looks like a win on paper, critics argue that the deal focuses on a "sunset industry." The Lab-Grown Threat

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Under the previous long-term agreements, De Beers held the lion's share of the "marketing" power. While Botswana owned half the mines, the majority of the rough stones were sold through De Beers' global distribution network. The New Deal: Progress or Posturing?

As Anglo American, which owns 85% of De Beers, moves to divest the business as part of a broader restructuring, a golden opportunity has presented itself. Despite the diamond market being in one of its worst crises in history, Boko is pushing for a deal that would see Botswana take its destiny into its own hands, seeking a majority stake of more than 50%. The government has even hired financial advisors to study the potential acquisition.

For decades, the partnership between Botswana and De Beers has been hailed as the "gold standard" of natural resource collaboration. Since the discovery of diamonds shortly after independence in 1966, Botswana has transformed from one of the poorest countries in the world into an upper-middle-income nation. Much of that success is credited to the 50/50 joint venture with the diamond giant.