Lefoko Moagi advised parliament the weaker diamond market had additionally affected the corporate’s valuation, giving the nation room to renegotiate.
“We is not going to be injecting extra capital, however we are going to get extra shares for a similar quantity proposed in 2023,” Moagi mentioned. “As an alternative of the 24%, we are going to negotiate to get 49.9% for a similar quantity initially proposed.”
Finance ministry price range paperwork confirmed in February that the nation had put aside 890 million pula ($65.95 million) for the 24% stake, valuing the Belgian firm at about $275 million.
The HB Antwerp deal was introduced throughout Botswana’s negotiations for a brand new gross sales contract with Anglo American’s diamond unit De Beers in March 2023.
As Botswana sought to extend its energy to market its stones exterior a decades-old settlement with De Beers, it mentioned the HB Antwerp deal would strengthen its presence within the downstream diamond trade.
It contains supplying the dealer with tough diamonds for 5 years by means of the state-owned Okavango Diamond Firm (ODC).
($1 = 13.4953 pulas)
(By Brian Benza; Enhancing by Nelson Banya and Barbara Lewis)