Botswana is considering whether to pursue control of De Beers after Anglo American selected a consortium reportedly led by the diamond company’s former chief executive as its preferred buyer.
Botswana owns 15% of De Beers and has the right to match or restructure Anglo American’s proposed sale of its remaining stake
- Anglo American has selected the Global Diamond Consortium as its preferred buyer for its 85% stake in De Beers.
- The consortium is reportedly led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny and proposes involving Angola and Namibia.
- Botswana, which owns the remaining 15%, can join the consortium or exercise its right to pursue the stake alone or with another partner.
- The decision comes as falling natural-diamond prices and competition from laboratory-grown stones have sharply reduced De Beers’ value.
The decision could give Botswana, one of the world’s most important diamond-producing countries, a decisive role in determining who owns one of the industry’s most recognisable businesses.
Anglo American currently owns 85% of De Beers, while Botswana holds the remaining 15%.
However, Botswana has a right of first refusal over Anglo’s stake. It can exercise that right alone, work with another investor or join the Global Diamond Consortium selected by Anglo.
Botswana’s Minister for State President, Defence and Security, Moeti Mohwasa, told lawmakers on Friday that Anglo had chosen the consortium after a competitive process involving three shortlisted bidders.
He said Botswana was working with financial advisers to determine the best structure and expected the transaction to be completed in the final quarter of 2026, subject to government approval.
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The government has not made a final decision.
“Botswana has complete freedom to proceed either alongside the preferred bidder as a partner or to exercise its preemption rights alone or with a third party,” Mr Mohwasa said.
Former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny reportedly leads the consortium selected as Anglo American’s preferred buyer.BI Africa
Former De Beers chief reportedly leads consortium
Mr Mohwasa did not identify the consortium’s members. However, the Financial Times reported that it is led by Gareth Penny, who served as De Beers’ chief executive between 2006 and 2010 and is currently chairman of South African asset manager Ninety One.
The consortium’s proposal includes potential participation by Angola and Namibia, two other African diamond-producing countries that have expressed interest in De Beers.
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Botswana welcomed that proposal
Such an arrangement could shift a larger part of De Beers’ ownership to the African countries that supply its diamonds, although the consortium’s funding, exact ownership structure and other partners have not been publicly disclosed.
Anglo American said the sale process was progressing and that it would provide an update when appropriate.
Previous reports indicated that the bidders examined during the process included groups connected to Mr Penny; Israeli diamond businessman Nir Livnat; a Qatari investment fund; and Michael O’Keeffe, the former chief executive of Burgundy Diamond Mines.
Botswana supplies about 70% of De Beers’ diamonds through operations that include the Jwaneng and Orapa mines.BI Africa
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Why Botswana has the strongest hand
Botswana’s position goes beyond its existing 15% shareholding. The country is central to De Beers’ operations through Debswana, the 50-50 joint venture between the government and De Beers that operates the Jwaneng and Orapa mines.
Botswana supplies about 70% of De Beers’ diamonds, making its support important to the company’s long-term production and value.
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In February 2025, Botswana and De Beers signed a new 10-year sales agreement, which can be extended for another five years, and renewed Debswana’s mining licences until 2054.
The agreement gradually increases the share of Debswana’s production available to the government-owned Okavango Diamond Company, giving Botswana greater control over the marketing and sale of diamonds mined inside the country.
A larger De Beers holding would deepen that control, potentially giving Botswana more influence over mining, sales, branding and the international distribution of its stones.
But it would also expose the government more directly to the risks facing the global natural-diamond market.
Diamonds remain vital to Botswana’s economy. They represented 77.7% of the country’s goods exports in the second quarter of 2025 and 72.7% in the following quarter, according to the Bank of Botswana.
The sector typically provides about three-quarters of Botswana’s foreign-exchange earnings and around a third of government revenue.
That dependence means Botswana has a strong reason to influence De Beers’ future. It also means that using public funds to increase its stake in a struggling company would carry significant financial risk.
Anglo American has written down De Beers’ value for three consecutive years as natural-diamond demand weakens.BI Africa
De Beers is being sold during a historic downturn
Anglo announced plans to separate from De Beers in May 2024 as part of a wider restructuring introduced after it rejected BHP’s takeover bid.
The group is narrowing its portfolio around copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, while leaving diamonds, platinum, nickel and steelmaking coal.
The planned sale comes during one of the most difficult periods in De Beers’ recent history.
Demand for natural diamonds has been weakened by slower luxury spending, particularly in China, excess inventories and growing consumer acceptance of cheaper laboratory-grown stones.
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De Beers generated total revenue of $3.5 billion in 2025, compared with $3.3 billion in 2024. Its rough-diamond revenue rose to $3 billion, but trading conditions remained weak and its average realised price declined.
Anglo subsequently recorded another $2.3 billion impairment against De Beers, after writedowns of $2.9 billion in 2024 and $2.6 billion in 2023. The latest reduction halved the business’s carrying value to about $2.3 billion.
The continued slump has also forced operational changes.
De Beers recently announced a two-year production suspension at Venetia, South Africa’s largest diamond mine, as it seeks to reduce output and costs. The mine accounts for about 10% of De Beers’ production and roughly 40% of South Africa’s diamond output.
Natural-diamond prices have fallen by about half since 2022, while De Beers has cut more than $100 million in annual costs since 2024.
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The sale is increasingly becoming a test of whether some of Africa’s leading diamond-producing countries can take a larger ownership role in the company that has dominated the industry for more than a century.
De Beers’ mining and exploration operations span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Canada.
Botswana already owns part of the group, while Namibia and Angola have shown interest in joining the next ownership structure.
A partnership involving the three African governments and experienced private-sector operators could spread the financial burden and align De Beers more closely with the countries supplying its stones.
However, Mr Mohwasa said any buyer must have operational experience, stable long-term ownership and a credible, well-funded plan to turn the business around.
That requirement reflects the scale of the challenge. The buyer would inherit valuable mines, a globally recognised brand and longstanding relationships with African governments, but also a company whose valuation has been repeatedly cut as the natural-diamond industry struggles to compete with changing consumer preferences.
Botswana must now decide whether its national interest is best served by becoming De Beers’ controlling owner, joining Anglo’s preferred consortium or allowing another investor to take the lead while retaining its existing stake.
The choice could determine not only the future of De Beers but also how much control African producers hold over the mining, marketing and value generated by their diamonds.
