14 October 2026
BOTSWANA is close to agreeing its future stake in De Beers with the Global Diamond Consortium (GDC), potentially clearing the way for Anglo American’s exit from the diamond business, said Bloomberg News earlier this week.
The country is likely to lift its holding from 15% to about 25%, people familiar with the talks told the newswire, although no agreement has been finalised.
GDC, headed by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny and including Namibia and Angola, was named preferred bidder in July. Anglo has discussed selling De Beers for about $1bn, a fraction of its former value.
Under the proposed arrangement, Botswana, Namibia and Angola would together own less than half of De Beers, leaving control with private investors – a condition for some consortium backers.
That would mark a retreat for President Duma Boko, who had sought majority control. Last month, Vice-President Ndaba Gaolathe said only that the state wanted “more than 15%”.
Anglo, GDC and Botswana’s presidential office declined to comment.
Anglo has been trying to sell De Beers since rebuffing BHP’s almost $50bn approach in early 2024. The process has been hampered by a prolonged slump in the diamond market. Anglo has written down De Beers three times in three years, cutting its carrying value to $2.3bn in February.
Botswana also owns half of Debswana, its mining joint venture with De Beers.
Source: https://shorturl.at/vpqFE
