(Ecofin Agency) - Botswana stands as Africa's leading producer of diamonds. The Botswana government operates several local mines under a joint venture with De Beers. Debswana, the JV, produced 24.7 million carats in 2022.

Botswana’s top diamond producer, Debswana, sold $3.44 billion of diamonds in 2023, down 25% year-on-year. The Botswana Central Bank released the figure on February 29. It shows how the fall in global prices in 2023 affected the company.

Several supply restriction measures have been taken to push prices back up. Meanwhile, Debswana, cautious, said it could reduce production this year, despite producers having reported slight improvements in recent months.

Debswana is a joint venture equally owned (50/50) by the Botswana government and De Beers. In June 2023, the two partners signed a 10-year deal mandating the company to sell 30% of its production to Botswana's national diamond trader, Okavango Diamond Company, up from 25% before. By the end of the decade, this percentage should rise to 50%. De Beers gets the rest of the production.