GABORONE (Reuters) -The mining ministers of Botswana and Angola held talks in Botswana’s capital on Friday on cooperation in the diamond sector, as the two Southern African countries seek to take control of Anglo American diamond unit De Beers.
Botswana, which owns 15% of De Beers and contributes 70% of its annual rough diamond production, considers the company a strategic national asset, despite a slump in global diamond prices that has hurt its economy.
Angola initially sought a minority stake in De Beers but later submitted a bid for a majority stake, setting up a potential bidding war with its neighbour.
Botswana’s mines minister Bogolo Joy Kenewendo and Angolan minister Diamantino Pedro Azevedo discussed collaboration in the diamond industry, as well as energy and logistics at a meeting briefly opened to reporters. Before that, they held a closed-door meeting which lasted about 40 minutes.
“At the top of everyone’s minds this year is the performance of the diamond industry and our collaborative efforts in bringing back the spark and the shine to the industry,” Kenewendo said.
“As some of the largest producers of diamonds by quantity and value in the world, it is only right that we meet and join hands in discussing how to get the most out of this natural resource,” she added.
The two ministers did not make any reference to Botswana and Angola’s competing interests in controlling De Beers, nor did they take any questions as they headed to another meeting with Botswana’s President Duma Boko.
Anglo put De Beers, one of the world’s leading diamond companies, up for sale to focus on other parts of its business and valued it at $4.9 billion.
(Reporting by Brian Benza and Nelson Banya;Writing by Alexander Winning;Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
