De Beers, Anglo American leadership meet Boko

• Tsaone Segeatsho

The Office of the President on Thursday welcomed Al Cook and Duncan Wanblad, the heads of De Beers and its holding company Anglo American respectively, in a move that shows President Duma Boko’s appetite to mend the relationship with the diamond giants.

While perennially holding a firm understanding, the relationship between De Beers and the Botswana government reached shaky ground last year, when the previous administration and the mining giants could not agree on terms for a new sales deal, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the future of what has been a very lucrative working relationship between the two parties.

Following his inauguration last week after his landslide victory in the presidential elections, Boko invited the mining giant executives to Office of the President.

During the visit, De Beers Chief Executive Officer, Al Cook, stated that De Beers has always had a strong and cordial relationship with the Government of Botswana.

On his part, President Boko has vowed since his election win to immediately mend relations with De Beers.

“We have a long-standing partnership which has benefitted this country, has carried us for many years and we are confident that it will endure into the future. We will engage with each other in the outmost good faith, and we will get the outcomes that will work for all of us,” said Boko.