De Beers Group has transferred its first contribution of BWP 1 billion, about US$73 million, into Botswana's Diamonds for Development Fund, the company and the Government of Botswana announced on 21 October.

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The fund, set up through the partnership between the government and De Beers, is meant to use diamond wealth to build new industries, support enterprise and create jobs beyond mining.

Governance in place first

"The Diamonds for Development Fund now has both an outstanding Board and significant funding." Al Cook, CEO, De Beers Group

The payment follows the appointment of Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the former president of the African Development Bank, as chairperson, and the onboarding of a 10-person independent board.

Adesina and the board held their first in-country meetings in Gaborone in September, meeting President Duma Boko, government ministries, business leaders, financial institutions, academia and development partners, according to the joint release.

With its governance in place, the fund now moves to its next phase: completing its strategy and business plan and rolling out programmes in what it calls strategic intervention areas.

Seed money for larger pools of capital

De Beers said the P1bn gives the fund a financial foundation from which to attract larger pools of private, domestic and international capital. The fund describes itself as a catalytic investment platform for Botswana's diversification, productivity, exports and job creation.

Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said the company would keep investing in Botswana's diamond industry while backing the government's push to diversify. "The Diamonds for Development Fund now has both an outstanding Board and significant funding," he said.

Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Kenewendo called the fund "a strategic instrument for advancing Botswana's economic transformation", aimed at creating quality jobs for Batswana.

Adesina said the receipt of the money "marks an important milestone" and that the fund will now move towards implementation.

Part of the 2025 diamond deal

The fund grew out of the agreements Botswana and De Beers concluded in February 2025, which extended Debswana's mining licences to 2054 and, as MINING.COM reported at the time, secured 10 billion pula in development funding for the country.

The first payment arrives in a difficult year for diamonds. JCK reports that diamonds make up 62.3% of Botswana's export earnings and about a third of government revenue, and that the country's diamond export revenue fell about 29% year on year in the first five months of 2026.

Why it matters

Botswana is Africa's leading diamond producer by value and its economy still leans heavily on one commodity. A funded, independently governed vehicle for investing diamond revenue outside the mining sector is a test case for how resource-rich Southern African states turn mineral wealth into lasting jobs and industry, and how mining companies share that responsibility.

Source: De Beers Group and Government of Botswana, "Diamonds for Development Fund receives initial funding", 21 October 2026. Additional reporting: Rapaport, JCK, Mining Weekly, MINING.COM.