On the southern edge of Botswana's Kalahari Desert, tons of high explosive force even more tons of precious African earth into the air. As the dust settles at Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine on the planet, the gigantic trucks line up to collect the spoils.
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The diamonds, formed under intense heat and pressure billions of years ago, are embedded in blue kimberlite ore. The ore is transported away for crushing and the diamonds start their journey to become the gemstones that in less than half a century have transformed Botswana from one of the world's poorest countries into an African success story.
In 1962, the De Beers diamond mining and trading company acquired prospecting rights in the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, as Botswana was before independence. For nearly four years two De Beers geologists - Gibson and Lamont - scoured the land for traces of diamonds. Finally, in March 1967, Gibson narrowed the search to a spot located on the northern edge of the Kalahari Desert, a few miles away from a cattle-trading camp called Orapa.
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Jacob Sesinyi |
"For some reason they believed that there was something promising. The discovery of Orapa was just a year after independence. I'm not sure if that was a strategic thing or we're just lucky that the diamonds were discovered just after Britain gave us independence. I'm not sure what would have happened if the diamonds had been discovered before."Lucrative partnership
Four years later, in May 1971 Botswana's first President Seretse Khama officially opened Orapa mine for production. De Beers had the entire Botswana government flown in from Gaborone, the country's capital, for the ceremony.
The relationship between De Beers and the Botswana government was soon formalised with the establishment of the mining company Debswana. As Jacob Sesinyi explains, to this day, the 50-50 partnership remains a lucrative one.
"We operate four mines. Orapa which is about 400km north of Gaborone, Jwaneng mine which is the richest mine in the world and then we have two smaller mines by our standard. In total this year we [produced] about 31 million carats. To give you some perspective, Jwaneng mine produces more diamonds than the production of South Africa and Namibia combined."
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Kenneth Good |
The government of Botswana has a 15-percent stake in De Beers, the world's largest supplier of rough diamonds. The country's current President, Festus Mogae, has described the relationship between his government and Debswana as that of 'Siamese twins'. Critics such as political scientist Professor Kenneth Good fear one of Africa's few liberal democracies is paying a high price for this intimate arrangement:
"[De Beers is] highly secretive. Decisions are made by a very few top people with great confidentiality; things aren't written down, they're not publicly declared. This raises problems about accountability and democracy".
It's no surprise that Jacob Sesinyi from Debswana see things differently:
"When we got our independence in 1966 we were one of the poorest countries in the world; nobody wanted to be part of us. De Beers took the risk to be our partner, to help us develop. It paid off. It's a partnership that has contributed positively to the lives of the 1.7 million people of Botswana and is a partnership that needs to be commended."
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Jwaneng Mine |
You don't have to look far to see the impact of diamonds on Botswana. Gaborone, the country's capital, used to be a remote cattle station on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. Today it's a vibrant and colourful metropolis and one of Africa's fastest growing cities. Shiny new office buildings that wouldn't be out of place in a European city grace the centre. Modern hotels and restaurants are springing up and a huge shopping mall - Game City - rivals any in the US. These are the trappings of a wealthy city.
Mr Sesinyi says that before diamonds life was very different:
"There were no hospitals. Back then there were a total of ten kilometres of tarred roads, and remember this is a country as big as France. In terms of telephone, schools, those things were non-existent. Many people would wake up and know they're not granted clean water."
Prohibited immigrant
Professor Kenneth Good acknowledges the development diamonds have brought to Botswana. "It's the over reliance on diamonds that's the difficulty, not the diamonds per se, diamonds have brought wealth to the country we should be clear about that."
Professor Good lived in Botswana for 15 years. He worked at the University of Gaborone until May last year when President Mogae declared him a prohibited immigrant and forced him to leave the country. Good appears to have angered authorities with his research, including a paper suggesting that the Botswana government is increasingly authoritarian, and perhaps isn't a model for democracy in Africa. His case, which has attracted international attention, is a signal that all is not well in the most mineral-dependent country in the world.
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Traditional dwelling in Botswana |
Diversification
Professor Good believes Botswana has, broadly, managed revenues from diamonds well.
"Botswana has balanced budgets; it doesn't rely on foreign aid. Botswana has a strong currency, the Pula. Out of that infrastructure development has gone ahead rapidly."
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Jacob Sesinyi from Debswana accepts it's not ideal to depend on one commodity.
"The government needs to come up with a workable strategy to diversify the economy of Botswana. Yes, a diamond is forever but our diamond mines aren't forever. We'll go comfortably for about 25 years, but then revenue from diamonds will start declining. Therefore it's important for Botswana to start now, while there's still enough revenue from diamonds, to diversify into other sectors."
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Aerial view of the unique Okavango delta |
Africa's last Eden
Mr Sesinyi is convinced that tourism is the "next vehicle for Botswana's diversification". Flying over the Northern Kalahari and the awesome Okavango Delta, (the largest inland delta in the world) you get the sense he might be right.
Watching elephants and hippos wallowing in the swamp; it's an experience that, until now, has only been open to a few intrepid travellers. But if the Botswana government has its way, the place they call 'Africa's last Eden' will see many more visitors in the coming years.
A breath-taking bird's-eye view of the flooded delta can only be matched by the view from the water itself. With two people and a guide on board, the dug-out canoes called Mokoro ride only an inch or two above the water.
The guide uses a wooden pole to push the Mokoro along, navigating the narrow channels through the hippo grass and papyrus passing water lilies, dragon flies, fish eagles and if you're really luck the seldom seen water antelope, the Sitatunga.
The Okavango experience is unique. "I think our competitive advantage is tourism," says Mr Sesinyi, "no country in this world has the Okavango, this is what we should promote".
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A unique experience - gliding through the vast delta in a Mokoro |
While Botswana is keen to share natural treasures such as the Okavango, it's mindful of the pitfalls of a rapid growth in the tourist industry. So far, it has chosen for a policy of high-end, low-impact tourism and Botswana is becoming an ecotourism model for developing countries.
It's also a valuable source of income for people like Bikam, our guide on the Mokoro trip. His village alongside the Boro River has formed its own company, the Okavango Polers Trust, to guide visitors through the Delta. It's one of a number of community tourism projects set up by tribal people.
"Life is better with the tourists," says Bikam, "before, we'd just catch some fish and sell them to buy some sugar or whatever". Tourism is a lifeline for people like Bikam who traditionally have eked out a living on the land.
Although it's an upper middle-income country more than half of Botswana's population live on less than two euros a day. In fact, once you leave the environs of Gaborone, it's not long before you reach villages where houses are small and crowded and mains water and electricity a luxury. It's clear Botswana's diamond wealth hasn't benefited everyone.
All photographs © RNW/Anna Yeadell
Tags: africa, botswana, de beers, development, diamonds, good, tourism