The Belgian diamond firm says the failure to conclude Botswana’s proposed 2023 strategic partnership and unlock ODC rough supply has forced it to scale down local operations.
BONGANI MALUNGA
HB Antwerp has blamed the failure of its high-profile 2023 diamond arrangement with Botswana for its decision to significantly downsize local operations, bringing long-running uncertainty surrounding the proposed partnership to a head.
Deal stalled
The Belgian diamond company says the restructuring follows the failure to secure the rough diamond supply envisaged when the previous government announced a strategic partnership with HB Antwerp in March 2023.
Under the arrangement, Botswana was expected to acquire a 24 percent equity stake in HB Antwerp, while the company was earmarked to receive 10 percent of Okavango Diamond Company’s (ODC) rough diamond production for five years. Although key commercial terms had been agreed in principle, definitive contracts were still to be concluded.
Restructuring begins
In an interview with international media outlet Reuters last week, HB Antwerp managing partner Boaz Lev directly linked the company’s planned downsizing to the failure of those commitments to materialise.
“We are performing restructuring and resizing work to match with what we currently have, since whatever was foreseen in 2023 has not materialised to date,” Lev told Reuters.
Lev said the company would undergo “significant restructuring”, although he declined to disclose how many employees would be affected. Reuters reported that HB Antwerp had repeatedly engaged the government that assumed office after the October 2024 general election but had still not received the ODC supply envisaged under the earlier arrangement.
80 percent warning
The development follows a warning issued by HB Antwerp to the Commissioner of Labour in December 2025 that as much as 80 percent of its workforce could be retrenched if the company failed to receive rough diamonds from ODC by the end of March 2026.
That deadline has since passed, with the company now moving ahead with a restructuring that effectively scales its Botswana operation to the level of business currently available to it.
Government position
The latest position from HB Antwerp contrasts with the stance previously taken by President Duma Boko’s administration, which has maintained that the proposed transaction inherited from the previous government never developed into a binding agreement.
Minerals and Energy Minister Bogolo Kenewendo told international jewellery publication JCK in March 2025 that the new administration did not regard itself as having a concluded agreement with the Belgian company.
“We do not have any contracts or agreement with HB,” Kenewendo said. She subsequently added: “There are no ongoing negotiations.”
In an earlier press conference in Gaborone, before Kenewendo’s comments, President Boko similarly said the matter had remained at the due-diligence stage under the previous administration. He said HB Antwerp had proposed bringing expertise in diamond cutting, polishing and marketing to Botswana, but the government was still assessing the proposal when political power changed hands.
Investment plan
The previous administration had gone considerably further in its stated ambitions. Government had set aside about P890 million for the proposed investment and later considered increasing Botswana’s contemplated shareholding from 24 percent without injecting additional capital after falling diamond-market valuations altered HB Antwerp’s valuation.