Botswana has seen some success in the area of cutting and polishing since the country moved its efforts towards beneficiation that came with the inflow of thousands of jobs to the country. The diamond rich country initially focused on three stages of the diamond pipeline namely exploration, mining, “sorting and valuing”, but it has now emerged as a major international downstream player. Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila said at Debswana 45th Anniversary Diamond Pipeline Exhibition in Orapa that with the addition of other components, the industry has not only created thousands of jobs over the years,…
Author: Editor
Tour operators have been urged to integrate Environment Sustainability into training and professional development of tour guides in an effort to make them effective contributors to environmental sustainability. This follows limited evidence which suggests guides can foster visitors’ post-visit pro-environmental and pro-conservative attitudes and behaviours. Equally, there is limited evidence that tour guides can influence social and cultural sustainability of destinations. A leading conservation scholar from Charles Sturt University in Australia, Dr Rosemary Black said at a public lecturer at the University of Botswana that sustainability benefits destinations and all stakeholders, including visitors. “Be more proactive in marketing and conveying…
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded its senior unsecured rating on Eskom following its revision of the South African Sovereign debt rating on Thursday, 06 November 2014. Eskom’s senior unsecured rating has been lowered to Ba1 from Baa3 on the Moody’s scale, the outlook on the rating was changed to stable from negative. In terms of Moody’s rating methodology for Government Related Issuers, Eskom’s senior unsecured bond rating is primarily driven by Moody’s assumption of a high level of potential government support in case of financial distress. Given Eskom’s strong linkage with the South African government and its high sensitivity to…
The organisers of the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba say Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997 – 2007) will participate in a keynote presentation at the 2015 annual conference. Euromoney Institutional Investor Managing Director, Christopher Fordham, will host an “Interview with Tony Blair” during a special keynote presentation. The 2015 edition of the annual Mining Indaba, the world’s largest mining investment event will take place on 9 – 12 February 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. “Mr. Blair has vast experience as a global leader and through the charity he founded in 2008, the Africa Governance…
It is not often that upcoming comedians get to share a stage with well-established acts, more so in their own background. This past week marked an interesting time in the future of the local comedy industry as more and more of Botswana comedians are getting a break to display their talents on South African (SA) stages. Having in the past taken Mod and Ribcracker to perform at the Mafikeng Comedy Jam alongside top SA comics, as well as Paps who dazzled Morula Sun in Pretoria, Oefile ‘Mawee’ Mokgware who mesmerized Rock The Mother Tongue in Johannesburg, it was time to…
There is a consensus that like food, shelter is a basic human right. A right does not however always translate to ownership. It is to this end that as part of their CSR strategy, the Botswana Innovation Hub team travelled to Khudumelapye to launch a housing prototype that is touted as being a possible breakthrough in Botswana’s housing challenge. Botswana Innovation Hub has entered into an agreement with Refugee Housing Unit (RHU) AB which is a subsidiary of the non-profiting “Stiftelsen housing for all” setup and co-managed with the Ikea Foundation. The company develops and brings to the market alternative…
The global energy industry is undergoing a seismic shift, in part driven by development of new, unconventional sources of energy, such as shale gas, tight oils, coal seam gas and oil sands. In turn, this is requiring logistics executives to rethink traditional energy supply chain models and implement a highly integrated approach, to drive down logistics costs and enhance profit margins. This is according to DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, who have released a white paper on the dynamics, challenges and opportunities that are shaping the current energy sector. Jonathan Shortis, Vice President – Energy Sector EMEA (Europe, the…
Tsodilo Resources Limited said in an update that the ground magnetic and gravity surveys on kimberlite BK16 have been completed. This initial grant to Bosoto (Pty) Ltd of prospecting license PL 369/2014 became effective on October 1, 2014 and is valid for 3 years. The company said 51 line km of high intensity magnetics was completed and 441 survey stations for the detailed gravity survey were read while the geophysical surveys indicate a size for the BK16 kimberlite pipe of between 4.8 and 5 hectare in size, an increase from the 3.5 ha historical reported size. Tsodilo added that the…
The Index of Mining Production in the first quarter of 2014 stood at 96.2 showing a year-on-year growth of 16.7 percent, the latest release by Statistics Botswana has revealed. The report titled Indices of the Physical Volume of Mining Production first quarter 2014 showed that diamonds were main contributors at 21.0 percentage points while gold and copper contributed 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points respectively. “Diamond production grew by 26.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014 as compared to 2013 first quarter. The increase in production was largely due to plant maintenance which was done at Orapa during 2013 first…
Continental Coal Limited said it has accepted an offer from a South African consortium to sell its 74% interest on its subsidiary, Continental Coal Limited SA (CCL SA). The deal is subject to the buyer agreeing to terms and conditions including paying total purchase consideration of R700m (AUD$72.063m), proof of funds on or before 7 November 2014 and final due diligence sign off on or before 30 November 2014. The buyer also has to make a deposit of Rand 50m posted upon final due diligence sign off (30 November 2014) which gets released to Continental upon relevant section 11 approval…