Word from the Managing Director: Ada Thela
August was a pretty tough and challenging month for us, I believe it was more or less uniform or the same across the board for all players in the industry, and it is attributed to the slump in prices of rough diamonds (although the smaller sizes are performing a bit better), which has weakened demand. The ripple effect has led to slow sales at the moment which we hope for some normalcy and stability in the coming month(s).
Traditionally, July and August are usually very slow months, we saw De Beers cancelling and calling off their August sights, which they have combined their August and October sights for the month of September. We are of the opinion that leading up to the close of the year, the market conditions for rough will be on the downside and perhaps a shift towards the positive in the first quarter of 2025.
There has been the need to shift in our business approach to be agile whilst diversifying our approaches to business ‘unusual’ as a start-up, in the niche segment of the diamond value chain, we strive to adapt and be able to weather the tough conditions in the diamond industry at a global level, as we are operating in the midstream segment of the diamond value chain.
Despite this, the month of August has its very good lessons, which we will be able to draw as business learnings for the future, and we can draw from them and build better as we move forward. Tough times exist but they will come and go, but only tough people will weather the storm. Botswana as a country, will soar which is evident in the discovery of the 2nd largest diamond in the world!
As a business that seeks to protect livelihoods. It breaks our hearts to see the downside of what is happening in the market. Which has also led to retrenchments and closures of businesses, which often goes against the intention of adding value to our communities. Diamonds are pivotal to Botswana’s economy, and we hope that things get better in the diamond industry to drive a turnaround.
We urge our government and its related stakeholders to aggressively market the natural diamonds from Botswana. That is indeed the backbone and foundation of our economy. We are also hoping the Mpox outbreak does not further hurt efforts to revive our economy post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our door is open for further engagement with new clients and government stakeholders, let us keep striving to build better. Your valued support is sincerely appreciated. Thank you.
#naturaldiamonds #PushaBW #DiamondsDoGood #BotswanatotheWorld #ZoeDiamondstotheWorld #localization #beneficiation #youthparticipation #ValueAddition
