Botswana Mining Review Comprehensive Coverage of the Progress and Achievements in the Mining Sector
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De Beers contributed an estimated P11.31 billion to Botswana’s economy in 2025, a figure that would signal resilience in most years. However, it comes at the end of one of the toughest periods the global diamond industry has faced and falls just short of the P11.47 billion recorded in 2024.
Anglo American’s 2025 Tax and Economic Contribution Report puts De Beers’ total economic value creation in Botswana at US$832 million (P11.31 billion), down from US$844 million (P11.47 billion) the previous year. While the year-on-year decline appears modest, it masks much steeper contractions across almost every underlying category. Anglo American, which owns 85% of De Beers while the Botswana government holds the remaining 15%, notes that De Beers and its partners still account for roughly one-third of global rough diamond production by value, even as international demand remains soft.
Procurement remained the single largest driver of De Beers’ Botswana footprint, with US$344 million (P4.67 billion) spent overall, including US$300 million (P4.08 billion) paid to local suppliers—a figure that continues to anchor Botswana’s domestic business ecosystem despite the broader downturn. Capital expenditure totalled US$183 million (P2.49 billion), reflecting continued investment across operations, while employment costs of US$233 million (P3.17 billion) in salaries and related payments kept De Beers among Botswana’s largest private-sector employers, even though the figure slipped from US$247 million (P3.36 billion) in 2024.
Government revenue held up comparatively well. De Beers contributed US$244 million (P3.32 billion) through taxes, royalties and other statutory payments, split across US$93 million (P1.26 billion) in corporate income tax, US$95 million (P1.29 billion) in royalties and mining taxes, US$21 million (P285 million) in other company-borne payments and US$34 million (P462 million) in taxes collected on the government’s behalf. The standout number, though, is on the equity side. Government earnings from its 15% shareholding surged to US$72 million (P979 million), more than doubling from US$30 million (P408 million) in 2024, which is a reminder that Botswana’s equity stake is proving to be a resilient revenue stream even as operating metrics soften.
Community investment told the opposite story, falling to US$10 million (P136 million) from US$35 million (P476 million) the previous year, the sharpest percentage decline in the report and a clear signal of where discretionary spending is first trimmed when industry conditions tighten. The report comes as Anglo American continues to work towards separating De Beers through either a divestment or a demerger, a move the company says will allow De Beers to focus on the long-term growth strategy it unveiled in 2024, centred on operational efficiency, streamlining and value creation.
The 2025 numbers capture both De Beers’ continued weight in Botswana’s economy and its exposure to global diamond price cycles; nearly every major category of procurement, wages, and overall economic value declined year-on-year, even as the equity dividend more than doubled and statutory tax contributions held relatively firm. For Botswana, the report sharpens a question policymakers have been circling for years of how quickly the country can accelerate mineral beneficiation, grow non-diamond industries and broaden economic diversification, so that a downturn in global diamond demand no longer moves the national fiscal needle quite this directly.
