De Beers’ ownership future has become a continental strategic issue, with the question of who controls the company carrying direct consequences for Botswana, its closest partner and co-owner.
Section
Profiles
Zeine Zeidane
The IMF’s Africa chief framed Middle East disruption as a regional economic shock, a warning that reached as far as the World Bank’s cut to its global growth outlook and, through trade, to Botswana.
Duma Boko
President Duma Boko’s visit to Oman produced energy and mineral exploration agreements, signalling a search for partners and capital beyond Botswana’s traditional Western and regional markets.
Lipalese Makepe
New ODC leadership has shifted Botswana’s diamond sales toward contracted buyers, a quiet structural change arriving just as a sovereign downgrade underlined the pressure on the sector.
Bogolo Joy Kenewendo
Botswana’s mines minister has fronted the country’s push beyond diamonds into critical minerals, framing exploration as the next chapter rather than a replacement for the stone that built the state.
Ndaba Gaolathe
Botswana’s finance minister has become the central figure in a debate over debt, deficits and the long-promised move beyond diamonds, with the 2026 budget projecting a rebound.
Pipeline-Builders: China-Africa Youth Contests Bet on Founders, Not Factories
A China-Africa youth entrepreneurship competition now runs across continents on digital economy and AI. The harder question is what happens to the founders after the final in Wuhan.
Training at Scale: China’s Bet on African Technicians and Officials
China is training African technicians and officials in the tens of thousands, with a 2025 target near 20,000. The pledges count people precisely and price them not at all.
Engineering Academies: FOCAC Reframes Schools as Workforce Infrastructure
At the 2024 FOCAC Summit China pledged an engineering technology academy, ten new Luban Workshops and about 60,000 training places. The framing treats schools as infrastructure.