Diamond sales by Debswana Diamond Co have seen a slight drop in the first quarter of the year, according to data released by the Bank of Botswana.
The market has been more cautious in the current uncertain global macroeconomic outlook.
Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American Plc unit De Beers and Botswana’s government, sold 75% of its output to De Beers with the balance taken up by state-owned Okavango Diamond Co. Sales of diamonds from Debswana fell 1.4% to $1.077 billion in the three months to March.
However, in pula terms, rough sales recorded a 10.1% jump to 14.005 billion pula, pointing to the effects of a stronger dollar during the period.
Botswana depends on diamonds, with 30% of its revenues and 70% of its foreign exchange earnings coming from them.
The country and De Beers are renegotiating their mining rights and sales agreements, with the government looking to get more rough diamonds for trading outside the De Beers system.
