Botswana weighs wider mineral export curbs

Keypoints:

Boko signals possible wider export restrictions
Botswana already mandates feasible beneficiation
De Beers ownership remains central to strategy

BOTSWANA is considering widening its long-running mineral beneficiation strategy into tougher restrictions on exports of unprocessed resources, as President Duma Boko pushes for more domestic processing and greater national participation across the mining value chain.

The proposal would not mark the beginning of beneficiation in Botswana. The country has spent nearly two decades building domestic value addition into its diamond industry and, since October 2025, its mining law has required mineral concession holders to beneficiate production where feasible. Boko’s latest remarks instead point to a possible escalation towards broader export restrictions.

Long strategy, tougher instrument

Speaking to CNN’s Richard Quest on September 22, Boko pointed to African countries that have prohibited minerals from leaving their borders without undergoing local processing.

‘We will probably be going that route as well,’ Boko told CNN’s Quest Means Business.

He stressed, however, that the government’s immediate priority was attracting investors prepared to deploy capital in Botswana, transfer technology and skills, create jobs and undertake beneficiation locally.

That distinction matters.

Botswana already has a statutory beneficiation requirement. The Mines and Minerals Act, following amendments adopted in 2024 and brought into force on October 1, 2025, requires mineral concession holders to beneficiate minerals ‘as far as is feasible’.

Boko’s remarks therefore raise the prospect of moving beyond a feasibility-based obligation towards a firmer trade restriction under which some unbeneficiated minerals could be prevented from leaving Botswana.

No blanket prohibition has been announced.

Botswana’s beneficiation history runs deep

Botswana has pursued local value addition most visibly through diamonds.

An OECD study of Botswana’s mineral policy documented the government’s long effort to expand domestic participation in sorting, valuing, cutting, polishing and trading diamonds.

By 2008, Diamond Trading Company Botswana was sorting and valuing the country’s diamond production, while De Beers shifted major aggregation operations from London to Gaborone in 2013.

The significance of that history is that Botswana largely pursued downstream development through negotiated commercial arrangements, licensing and guaranteed access to rough stones rather than a sweeping ban on raw exports.

Rough diamonds can still legally be exported. Botswana operates a rough-diamond export permit system, with shipments subject to Kimberley Process requirements.

That distinction is central to understanding Boko’s latest remarks: Botswana has long promoted beneficiation, but a broader prohibition on exporting unprocessed minerals would represent a tougher policy instrument.

Government rhetoric has hardened

The president’s comments also fit increasingly forceful government rhetoric around local value addition.

In May, Minister for State President, Defence and Security Moeti Mohwasa told business leaders that Botswana needed to move beyond an economic model centred on extracting natural resources and exporting them without sufficient domestic processing.

‘The era of simply digging up resources and shipping them away in raw form must end,’ Mohwasa said.

Boko’s subsequent comments provide a clearer indication of one tool the administration could eventually use to achieve that objective.

For mining companies, the unanswered question is whether Botswana will amend regulations or introduce new measures that turn the existing ‘as far as is feasible’ requirement into a firmer condition for exports.

De Beers remains at centre of push

The same philosophy is shaping Botswana’s approach to De Beers.

Boko told CNN that ‘Botswana’s stake in De Beers will certainly rise’ as Anglo American proceeds with plans to dispose of its controlling interest.

The Botswana government currently owns 15 percent of De Beers, while Anglo American holds the remaining 85 percent.

The future ownership structure remains unsettled.

In July, Mohwasa told parliament that Anglo had identified the Global Diamond Consortium as its preferred bidder, according to Reuters. Anglo did not itself confirm the bidder’s identity, saying only that the sale process was progressing.

Botswana is considering several options, including exercising its pre-emption rights, partnering with the preferred bidder or working with another party.

The government has also explored potential financial partnerships. Africa Briefing previously reported that Botswana had approached investors from the UAE and Oman as it considered ways to finance a larger position in De Beers.

The ownership push reflects a broader objective: increasing Botswana’s influence not only over extraction, but also over marketing, processing and the value captured from diamonds.

Under the latest Botswana–De Beers sales agreement, the proportion of Debswana production available to state-owned Okavango Diamond Company is set to rise progressively. Africa Briefing reported on the agreement when it was finalised.

Angola joins wider diamond strategy

Botswana is also deepening diamond cooperation with Angola.

During Boko’s September visit to Luanda, the two governments said they wanted closer coordination to strengthen the natural diamond market as laboratory-grown stones increase competitive pressure.

Boko told CNN that Botswana had approached Angola over closer management of diamond supply and inventories.

However, no formal Botswana–Angola mechanism for jointly controlling supply or prices has been announced.

The Angolan presidency said the two countries wanted stronger cooperation to defend and promote natural diamonds.

President João Lourenço also reiterated Angola’s desire to become a De Beers shareholder.

Reuters reported earlier in 2026 that Angola was seeking a 20 to 30 percent stake through state-owned diamond companies Endiama and Sodiam.

The discussions add another dimension to Botswana’s strategy: increasing the role of African producing countries not only in extraction, but also in ownership, marketing and downstream value creation.

From beneficiation to wider curbs

Boko’s comments are therefore best understood as an escalation of an established policy trajectory rather than a sudden change of direction.

Botswana has long used commercial agreements, licensing and processing requirements to capture more value from its mineral resources. Its updated mining law now extends beneficiation obligations across mineral concessions, while senior officials are increasingly arguing that the raw-resource export model must end.

What Botswana has not introduced is a universal prohibition on exporting minerals before processing.

That is the potential next step Boko has now placed on the table.

If adopted, wider export curbs would mark a significant shift from Botswana’s historically negotiated approach towards a more interventionist resource policy — and could give mining companies a stronger incentive to invest in processing capacity inside the country.