Botswana Still Wants to Buy De Beers, Despite IMF Warning

By Rob Bates | December 17, 2025

Botswana president Duma Boko (pictured) pushed back Monday against an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report that advised the country against purchasing a larger share of De Beers.

Boko also said that if Botswana does purchase the diamond giant, De Beers’ headquarters will relocate from London to Botswana.

The Southern African nation currently owns 15% of De Beers, but Boko has said that Botswana will acquire a majority share of the company, which was put up for sale by majority owner Anglo American last year.

Boko reiterated that in his recent remarks at the Botswana village of Kanye.

“You will hear others saying IMF said don’t buy,” Boko said, according to local newspaper Mmegi. “But the IMF are not Batswana, they are not voters and are not affected by the problems in this country’s economy. Don’t tell me about the IMF, tell me about Batswana who are suffering. It’s our people who are running this country, and we said we want De Beers, and we are going to take it.”

He added that De Beers “gets 70% of its diamonds from Botswana, and we only own 15% of it. We want to take a bigger share and become the real owners.… When we take it, we will get the operations back to the right state and bring the headquarters here so that when someone says Botswana is a diamond country, when you come, you can see it on people’s faces and in other sectors of the economy.”

The IMF’s consultation, issued earlier this month, warned that Botswana should not increase its stake in De Beers, “given the fiscal situation and Botswana’s already high dependence on the diamond sector” and the fact that the diamond market’s recovery “remains uncertain.”

“Botswana’s economic outlook has deteriorated markedly over the last 12 months as the decline in the demand for natural diamonds has been sharper—and is expected to be more persistent—than anticipated,” it said.

(Photo courtesy of the government of Botswana)