Reuters, citing the country’s central bank data, reports that the drop was due to poor demand in the second half of the year.
The central bank data showed that Botswana earned $70 million in December from rough exports from the previous month’s $378, 5 million.
Botswana exported $4.02 billion of rough in 2016, according to the Bank of Botswana. Fourth-quarter exports leapt to $1 billion from $114.1 million, a year earlier.
Botswana’s total exports, which are dominated by diamonds, grew by 21 percent in 2016 from the previous year, mainly as a result of the recovery in the diamond market.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished