Botswana prepares for DTC relocation

Over 200 sightholder representatives will be expected to visit Gaborone every five weeks from diamond centres across the world when DTC finally relocates its sights from London next year, the Director of Mineral Affairs, Nchidzi Mmolawa, told a two-day Afrimond diamond beneficiation workshop last week in Gaborone, Mmegi reported cited by Polishedprices.com.
Mmolawa's presentation focused on the economic benefits that will accrue to Botswana through the new sales agreement between Debswana and De Beers that requires the latter to relocate all operations of its diamonds distribution arm, DTC International, to Gaborone by the end of next year. The visits by the businessmen and their families are expected to give a boost to Botswana's transportation, hospitality and tourism industries, said the Mmegi report.
Among other benefits Mmolawa pointed to include the possibility of sightholders relocating their head offices to Gaborone from other major diamond centres such as Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Dubai and India. "We also anticipate the establishment of direct flights to Gaborone from the other diamond centres and the setting up of diamond ancillary services in Gaborone such as diamond transportation companies and diamond financing institutes," he was cited saying.
Although Botswana is set to benefit immensely from the new diamond deal, Mmolawa said the industry was still faced with many challenges, among them high infrastructure and skills constraints. "The diamond centres that we are competing with have better infrastructure such as airline connections and hotels, among others, and therefore need to establish a niche that will be supported by (a strong) environment. Skills shortage, especially for some specialised equipment is still a problem," he reportedly said.
On top of that, some Diamond Hub initiatives require funding, which could be difficult under current economic environment."  The relocation of DTC activities is expected to open more employment opportunities for Botswana in downstream industries that are estimated to have created about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs over the past six years already, said the report.
In adverts placed in the media recently, DTC said its newly formed entity, De Beers Aggregation Company, was looking for 23 trainees who would undergo practical training in handling rough diamonds and more focused training in the importation of rough diamonds from other countries and their subsequent aggregation and final formulation of sightholder boxes either for local sale or for export to other international sale centres, Mmegi said.
By October this year, diamonds from De Beers mines in Namibia, South Africa and Canada will come to Gaborone for aggregation before being exported to London for the sights. According to the CEO of DTC International, Varda Shine, the transfer of aggregation will be followed by relocation of different departments, among them supply planning, sales, client selection and finally the sights before the end of 2013, the report said.