Botswana’s largest waste water harvesting project for industrial use is scheduled to go online this month when Debswana Diamond Company draws waste water from Jwaneng town’s sewerage ponds for utilisation in Jwaneng Mine’s water-intensive ore processing plant. The project, whose construction and supervision by citizen contractors and local consultants commenced in November 2017, was delivered on time early this month and is set to run for at least fifty years. Sustainable mining is at the core of Debswana’s strategy, as such this water conservation initiative will go a long way in conserving this critical natural resource. Other spill over benefits…
Author: Editor
Forevermark, the diamond brand from De Beers Group, recently unveiled the first boutique in its Next Generation Retail Concept, located within renowned jewellery department store, Caibai in Beijing. The newly renovated 100 square metre boutique breaks away from the traditional across-the-counter service, inviting consumers to discover the world of Forevermark through an immersive, interactive and informative experience. This is the first time Forevermark has offered this kind of consumer experience within one of its retail partners. The boutique includes a number of new innovations and digital experiences, including a discovery wall and two interactive discovery bars that sit at the…
The market in 2019 was supply-driven, as noted in the Diamond Price Statistics Annual Report that appears in this month’s issue of Rapaport Magazine. An oversupply of diamonds set a negative tone, leaving the trade with numerous diamonds that were difficult to sell. Inventory levels declined in the fourth quarter, but there were a lot of lower-quality goods still available at the end of December. The year also saw a change in consumer patterns. Multi-channel jewelry shopping and online diamond trading gained momentum. That gave buyers access to larger inventories and more information about the goods, enabling them to cherry-pick the…
inDriver, an international online transportation application headquartered in USA, has launched to residents of Gaborone. inDriver users can independently set the price for their trip, while drivers can choose the most profitable and convenient orders. inDriver allows passengers to set their own fare for their chosen route. Nearby drivers who receive notice of ride requests have three choices – accept the fare offered, ignore the offer or bargain for a higher price. Gaborone is the first city in Botswana where inDriver has launched. inDriver has already connected more than 300 drivers in Gaborone, and dozens of new drivers are being…
De Beers Group has announced the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auctions) for the tenth sales cycle of 2019. Cycle 10 2019 provisional sales value represents sales at 17 December 2019. According to the diamond mining major, the provisional sales stood at US$425 million. This was better than $400 million recorded in actual Cycle 9 2019 sales figure. However, this was worse year-on-year as it was less than the actual $500 million sales figure for the tenth sales cycle of 2018. Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “Following continued polished diamond price stability in the…
The Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism (MENT), Philda Nani Kereng has travelled to Spain to represent Botswana at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) held in Madrid, Spain from the 8th to the 13th December 2019. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started on the 2nd December and will end on the 13th December 2019. The Parties meet annually to review progress in the implementation of the Convention, where other instruments that…
Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) is closing the year in a big way, by hosting the world in Kasane for this year’s Botswana Travel and Tourism Expo aptly tagged #BTTE19, from today, December 2 – 6, 2019. Botswana Travel Tourism Expo (BTTE) offers a unique opportunity to the world’s travel industry to establish business partnerships with the Botswana tourism industry players. The BTTE also offers a unique strategic networking opportunity and gives special insight into the Botswana Tourism product, including where one can access new markets and achieve business objectives. 280 exhibitors will attend this year’s exposition, which include 140 local operators…
Tlou Energy Limited, the ASX, AIM and BSE listed company focused on developing gas-to-power projects in southern Africa using coal bed methane (“CBM”) from its gas field in Botswana has provided Operational and Corporate Update which showed that gas continues to flow at the Lesedi CBM project. The update also noted the company was awaiting additional feedback from the government on Power Purchase Agreement. The Company previously announced initial gas flow rates of approximately 20 Mscfd (thousand standard cubic feet per day) from each of the Lesedi 3 and Lesedi 4 production pods. Since then, gas flows have continued with…
This past weekend marked yet another milestone in the local comedy industry as more and more of Botswana’s comedians are getting a break to display their talents on South African stages. In their quest to create a sustainable market and continual artist development, Major Moves Comedy secured a booking for Odirile Brooks, Maatla Ephraim Basha and Thapelo Malani at the Breaking Borders with Comedy 2.0 at Bloemfontein Civic Theatre. The trio recently performed at the First Friday Comedy Finale at Masa Square Hotel in Gaborone. Brooks who hails from Tsabong is a 2-time President’s Day Comedy Competition Champion. He was…
Wilderness Safaris’ Group Culture Coordinator, Bongani Baloyi, participated in Argentina’s first Natural Summit held in Cordoba last month. Organised by the Argentina Secretariat of Tourism, Aves Argentinas (a BirdLife International member), Agencia Córdoba Turismo (Cordoba Province Tourism Bureau), Federal Tourism Council and the Argentina Chamber of Tourism, Bongani was honoured to be part of the summit and discuss the company’s pioneering ecotourism model. “Wilderness Safaris holds numerous successful partnerships and joint ventures in its areas of operation, some decades old. Since it began operating in 1983, the company has not just grown substantially, but also been able to use its model to…