- Target is P3bn to P4bn during a five year strategy period
- Strategy in line with National Digital Transformation
- Plan includes contract sorting for other diamond producers
GAZETTE REPORTER
In their efforts to increase their revenue, the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) has developed a five-year strategy that will generate the company between three to four billion Pula in five years, this publication has established.
Speaking at a gala dinner in Gaborone to mark the company’s 50th anniversary recently, the Managing Director (MD) of DCTB, Sedireng Serumola, said the new strategy is aimed at transforming DTCB into a High Performing Organisation (HPO) and will be driven by the new Purpose of Unlocking Diamond Value and Adding Sparkle to Lives.
“Through this strategy, we aim to achieve our Ambition of Pioneering a New Diamond World of Sorting and Valuing,” he said.
Four priorities
“It is often said ‘strategy is about choices,’ therefore, in line with that saying, we have chosen four strategic priorities, and these are: Customer Experience, Technology and Innovation, Organisation Capability and Sustainability.
“Through this strategy, we will seek opportunities to increase our revenue streams and in so doing increase shareholder value by releasing between 3 to 4 billion Pula during the five year strategy period.”
Serumola added that the strategy was developed to be in line with the country’s national priority of Digital Transformation, hence it comes with a Transformational Operating Model to allow DTCB to operate much more efficiently.
“We will create a flexible working model by deploying technology, including cloud-based computing and upskilling our staff to enable data-driven decision- making wherein we can reduce our pipeline length,” Serumola said.
Employee training
“With this Transformational Operating Model, we will have the capability to extend our services beyond Debswana production and provide additional contract sorting services to other diamond producers. Thus, DTCB is aiming to be more agile and responsive to future customer demands.”
He acknowledged that optimisation of processes alone is not sufficient to unlock value, hence they have identified Technology and Digital Transformation as key enablers of the success of the new strategy. “The deployment of new technologies will be underpinned by comprehensive change management initiatives,” he said.
“To ensure that employees are not left behind during deployment of technologies, they will be involved, trained and supported throughout the journey. By so doing, DTCB will develop skills for the future through partnering with tertiary institutions and the diamond beneficiation sector.”
Orapa House
DTCB is a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of Botswana and the De Beers Group. It commenced operations in 1972 when the Botswana Development Corporation and De Beers formed a partnership that gave birth to BDVC to sort and value Debswana’s production.
Subsequently, BDVC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana in 1977. In 1982, the BDVC building, known as Orapa House, was opened in Gaborone. In 2006, the Government of Botswana and De Beers Group signed an agreement to incorporate Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) to take over the sorting and valuing operations of BDVC.