Home > About Us > Debswana Diamonds Social Impact Over the Years
Debswana has taken great care over the years to guarantee that the people of Botswana benefit from the mineral profits. In order to do this, the nation benefits from well-designed beneficiation programmes and initiatives, which have had a major positive influence on Batswana’s quality of life.
Structure: A private company owned 50-50 by Government of Botswana and De Beers Group
Mission: We mine diamonds safely, optimally, and responsibly
Vision: To be a global bench-mark diamond business
Purpose: Make Life Brilliant
Tons Moved: 122,675 Million
Tons Treated: 25,855 Million
Carats Recovered: 24,700 Million
Strategy 2024 Goal: P10 Billion of additional value to the business by end of 2024
Employees: 5, 010
Debswana Diamond Company operates four diamond mines in Orapa, Letlhakane, Damtshaa and Jwaneng, and is a major contributor to the national economy of Botswana. The company, established in 1969, is an equal-share joint venture between the Government of Botswana and De Beers Group.
The first diamond deposits were discovered in Orapa in 1967 before mining commenced in 1971. With prudent management and foresight, the Orapa mine operation provided revenue that saw the birth of the other Debswana mines, whose diamonds were discovered in Letlhakane in 1968, Damtshaa in 1970 and Jwaneng in 1972.
Debswana has over the past five decades implemented various programmes to address poverty, exclusion and inequality. When Debswana started mining in central Botswana in 1971 and a decade later in the south, there were no towns nor villages in the vicinity, except for cattle posts. Therefore, Debswana had to start from scratch in terms of developing social services and infrastructure. The company sourced labour from various areas of the country and the world; as such had to provide services for its employees. Over time the population around our mines grew and the company began to extend its services and other programmes to host communities and the country at large.
Debswana conducts its stakeholder-driven materiality assessment every two to three years to better understand how the business impacts communities and the environment. In March 2024, a third-party consultancy was commissioned to independently assist Debswana to identify Environmental, Social and Governance topics that impact its business, society and stakeholders. A double materiality was conducted, which is a robust dual approach which looks at much more broadly how the topic impacts our corporate value and how our business impacts the topic. The double materiality assessment is a key input of the annual Debswana Sustainability Report formerly known as Report to Stakeholders, which is published in compliance to the Global Reporting Initiative 2021 sustainability reporting standards.
In August 2017, Debswana along with other partners (Government, De Beers and Anglo American) officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Tokafala Enterprise Development Programme. The Tokafala Enterprise Development Programme began as a pilot in January 2014 in an effort to capacitate Small, Micro and Medium sized business for increased economic growth and reduced unemployment.
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