Weak diamond market hampers Botswana’s infrastructure growth - report

An independent research company, Frost & Sullivan said infrastructure development in Botswana, which is heavily driven by the government, has slowed due to weak diamond prices and foreign direct investment.
"The construction market contracted sharply during the economic recession," said company's environmental & building technologies industry analyst, Sarah O'Carroll.
"Although the country's growth rate is above 7 percent, the effects of the recession still linger and investors are reluctant to invest in new infrastructure projects.”
Diamonds contributed over 30 percent to Botswana’s GDP and over 50 percent to the government’s revenue.
However, the slump in global gem prices had resulted in lower export receipts and revenues for the government.
The Bank of Botswana recently said that the country’s diamond exports declined by 61 percent year on year to $260.4 ‎million ‎last July.
The central bank’s data also showed that Botswana’s diamond exports declined by 31 percent ‎to ‎‎$2.28 ‎billion during the ‎first ‎seven ‎months ‎of the year.
Second quarter export figures stood at $1.03 billion compared to $1.5 billion realised during the same period last year.   ‎   

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished