The Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), the diamond company owned by the government of Botswana, is preparing to change the way it sells precious stones to the market. This decision comes as ODC is set to receive an increased amount of uncut diamonds due to the recently signed agreement between Botswana and diamond miner De Beers.
Currently, the (ODC) sells 25% of the gems produced by the Botswana government’s Debswana joint venture with De Beers via an auction process. Over the next decade, ODC’s share of rough stones from Debswana will rise to 50% following the new deal with De Beers, “but selling large volumes will be hard due to an uncertain economic outlook, and in the face of competition from laboratory-grown gems,” IDEX Online explains.
ODC Managing Director Mmetla Masire told Reuters via email that “ODC auctions are too big and need to be optimized. We also need to de-risk the business and support other customers that want alternative selling channels.” Masire said that the new channel “ should complement and work in parallel with auctions.”
