Botswana, Mpugwa: Malebogo Mpugwa, De Beers Group executive head of human resources, says investing in education and training is critical for developing skills and growing local diamond value chains. Mpugwa said this during the leadership roundtable at the just-concluded Natural Diamond Summit.
She highlighted that allocating resources to education and training programmes focusing on diamond related skills to equip local individuals with the necessary expertise is vital in creating a diamond value chain. She added that these include vocational training, internships, and collaborations with educational institutions.
Addressing a question posed on how De Beers will support the local skills to grow the local diamond value chain, Mpugwa stated that community engagement and collaboration are key.
She said working closely with local communities is important as one gets to understand the community’s specific needs and aspirations. This will help develop joint initiatives that empower them, create jobs, and provide opportunities for skill development within the diamond industry.
Ms Mpugwa also stated that facilitating skills transfer of technological knowledge and innovation from global experts to local professionals, such as introducing modern and sustainable practices in diamond mining and processing, improves efficiency.
She further said that promoting environmentally friendly methods is also important for creating a local diamond value chain.
She highlighted that to address youth unemployment in Botswana, De Beers partnered with the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), to conceptualize, co-design and conduct a multipart assessment of the skills landscape and stakeholder ecosystem in Botswana.
Residents are happy with the development of the government towards kills acquisition, innovation and technology and they said this is the best way to go with technology.
“The best way to go is to empower locals through skills acquisition, innovation, and technology, a shift from social welfare donations,” said the user.