Botswana's Gaolathe ties lab-grown's rise to De Beers doubt
At Chatham House on 17 September, the vice president said uncertainty over the partnership weakened confidence in natural stones. Anglo American is selling its 85% stake and Botswana holds the other 15%.
By The Diamonds Desk
What changed
A producer state names the cause. Botswana's vice president Ndaba Gaolathe said uncertainty over the Botswana-De Beers partnership gave laboratory-grown diamonds an opening to take market share.
What it means
- If you trade natural rough: a producer state is naming confidence, not geology or price, as what let lab-grown in.
- If you follow the De Beers sale: Gaborone is talking about capability rather than outright control.
- What this is not: a transaction. No price, no bid and no timetable was given.
Key figures
| Anglo's stakein De Beers, being sold | 85% |
|---|---|
| Botswana's stakegovernment wants a larger role | 15% |
| Growth sectors namedCarat Capital's count | 6 |
| Remarks madeChatham House, London | 17 Sep 2026 |
Source: Remarks at Chatham House, London, 17 September 2026 · reported by JCK, 18 September 2026 15:30 UTC
Uncertainty, not price, opened the door
He names the cause. Gaolathe said doubt over whether the two would keep acting together gave laboratory-grown diamonds an opening to take share.
The old machinery. He said the pair had stockpiled rough in downturns and spent on category marketing to hold demand up.
| Item | Figure | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Anglo American's stake in De Beers | 85% | JCK |
| Botswana government's stake | 15% | JCK |
| Growth sectors Gaolathe named | 6 | Carat Capital's count |
| Date of the remarks | 17 September 2026 | JCK, quoting the event |
Notes on this table
Source. JCK's report of 18 September 2026, read from the publisher's own feed, which carries the Chatham House date inside its own text and separates it from the publication date.
Carat Capital counted. the six growth sectors from Gaolathe's own list: mineral beneficiation, manufacturing, energy, financial services, agriculture and tourism.
What is absent. no valuation, no bid, no stake target and no timetable appears in the remarks, so none is printed here.
The stake question sits behind it
Anglo is selling 85%. Anglo American is selling its 85% holding. Botswana owns 15% and its president has said the government wants a larger role.
Capability, not control. Gaolathe framed the country's ambition as expertise across the chain rather than ownership alone.
Diamonds stay, dependence goes
Six sectors named. He named mineral beneficiation, manufacturing, energy, financial services, agriculture and tourism, and said “we have no choice to diversify or we perish”.
What to watch
- End of 2026Anglo American's own deadline for finalising the De Beers sale, set when it named the Penny consortium.
- 30 September 2026The Ekapa rescue plan deadline, the next dated producer-side test.
- Q4 2026Whether Botswana's stake moves at all, the only check on the ambition stated here.
The story so far
Go deeper
What would change this call
A stated figure. Everything here is a minister's account of cause, and a single bid, valuation or stake target would replace the whole argument with arithmetic.
How Botswana and De Beers are joined
Two links exist and they are separate. The government holds 15% of De Beers itself, alongside Anglo American's 85%. It also holds half of Debswana, the mining joint venture that digs the country's stones, with De Beers holding the other half. A change in the first does not automatically change the second, which is why an ownership question and a sales agreement are argued about separately in Gaborone.
Method
JCK's report of 18 September 2026 was read from the publisher's own feed. It carries the event dateline inside its text, 17 September at Chatham House, separately from its own publication date, so the two are not conflated here: the article is dated to the remarks. The 85% and 15% holdings, the Boko position and the Bloomberg line about Botswana settling for a larger stake are JCK's; the count of six growth sectors is Carat Capital's, taken from Gaolathe's own list and labelled as such. The quotation is nine words and attributed. No valuation or bid is printed because none was given. This item is single-sourced on JCK and says so. ARCHIVE: Ndaba Gaolathe - ours: no prior period, zero hits for Gaolathe across the archive. Botswana returned 28 hits, each opened rather than counted; they cover the Anglo sale process and the Debswana relationship, and none reports this appearance or this argument. NEW ENTITY AND NEW EVENT, so NEW.