Botswana wants to make more of the wealth beneath its soil, with the government calling for a mining industry that creates jobs, supports local businesses and leaves communities better off long after extraction has ended.
The message comes as the country grapples with an uncomfortable reality. Diamonds have helped build Botswana into one of Africa’s most prosperous economies, but a weaker global market is exposing just how vulnerable that success remains. The challenge now is to create new sources of growth without weakening an industry that still matters enormously to the economy.
Mining must benefit more people
Opening the Botswana Mining Show in Gaborone on October 27, Minister for State President, Defence and Security Moeti Mohwasa said the country could no longer judge its mineral wealth simply by how much was extracted or exported.
The real measure, he argued, should be the opportunities mining creates for people and communities.
‘We must invest in skills development, equip communities with opportunities beyond mining, diversify our economy, and improve the livelihoods of those living in mining areas,’ Mohwasa said.
His remarks go to the heart of a debate that has gathered urgency as Botswana looks beyond the economic model that sustained it for decades.
Since independence in 1966, diamond revenues have financed schools, hospitals, roads and other public services, helping transform a sparsely populated country with limited infrastructure into an upper-middle-income economy
But that achievement has come with a cost: Botswana remains heavily exposed to changes in the diamond market.
As the country celebrated six decades of independence in September, its continuing dependence on diamond revenues raised difficult questions about how it would sustain growth and create enough employment for future generations.
Mohwasa believes the answer lies partly in making mining work harder for the wider economy.
‘The true measure of our mineral wealth is not only what we extract from the ground, but how we transform the lives of our people,’ he said.
Diamond pressures add urgency.
The timing of that message is significant.
Botswana’s diamond industry has been navigating weaker demand for natural stones, growing competition from laboratory-grown diamonds and uncertainty in the international luxury market.
De Beers’ third-quarter 2026 production figures show that output in Botswana fell 20 percent to 4.83 million carats compared with the same period last year.
The company attributed the quarterly decline primarily to planned maintenance at its Orapa mine, rather than weaker demand. Production during the first nine months of 2026 was actually 14 percent higher than a year earlier.
Nevertheless, the broader market difficulties remain a concern for the country’s finances.
The African Development Bank’s 2026 assessment of Botswana highlights how falling diamond exports have contributed to widening fiscal deficits, declining foreign exchange reserves and rising public debt.
For Botswana, that means the case for diversification is no longer simply about preparing for a future when diamonds become less important. It is also about protecting the economy from pressures already being felt.
From diamond wealth to new businesses
There are signs that the government and its mining partners are beginning to put money behind that ambition.
On October 21, De Beers transferred P1bn, worth approximately $73m, into the Diamonds for Development Fund, established to help finance new industries, encourage enterprise and create employment outside the diamond sector.
The initial contribution, detailed in Africa Briefing’s report on the $75m economic diversification initiative, gives the fund a financial starting point, although its investment strategy and first projects have yet to be announced.
Former African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina chairs its independent board.
Botswana is also looking at how it can retain more value from the minerals it produces.
President Duma Boko has signalled interest in tougher restrictions on exports of unprocessed minerals, potentially encouraging more processing and manufacturing within the country.
The ambition is understandable. Processing minerals locally could create jobs, develop technical expertise and allow Botswana to capture a greater share of the value generated by its resources.
Making that happen, however, will require investment, reliable power, skilled workers and competitive infrastructure.
Connecting mines to markets
Transport infrastructure featured prominently at the mining show, with Assistant Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Letlhogonolo Barongwang arguing that better connections could unlock benefits far beyond mining.
‘Our next phase of growth will not be measured only by what we extract from the ground, but by how efficiently we connect what we extract to markets, to industry, and to our people,’ he said.
Barongwang described the government’s ambition to turn Botswana from a landlocked country into a ‘landlinked’economy.
For mining companies, improved roads, railways and regional transport corridors could make it cheaper and easier to reach export markets.
For local manufacturers and suppliers, those same improvements could open opportunities to serve customers across Southern Africa.
The challenge is ensuring that infrastructure investment benefits businesses and communities as well as major mining operators.
A bigger challenge than mining
The three-day Botswana Mining Show, taking place from October 27 to 29 at the Gaborone International Convention Centre, brings together government officials, investors and industry leaders to explore new opportunities in the sector.
But the questions raised by Mohwasa go beyond attracting investment or increasing mineral output.
Can Botswana create enough businesses outside mining to employ its growing workforce? Can communities close to mining operations build livelihoods that survive when production slows or mines eventually close?
And can the country turn more of its mineral earnings into industries capable of competing in regional and international markets?
Those questions will not be answered at a three-day exhibition.
Botswana has already demonstrated what diamond wealth can achieve when it is used to build a nation. What it has yet to prove is whether that wealth can also help create an economy that no longer depends so heavily on diamonds.
For the people Mohwasa wants mining to serve, that distinction matters more than another rise in mineral exports.
