Botswana: A historic moment was experienced yesterday as Debswana collaborated with Botswana Post to launch Botswana Diamond Stamp alongside Debswana’s 54th Anniversary at Orapa.
Tlotlang Motoloki and Mokgosi Samson produced the Botswana Diamond Stamps, which is a collection of 16 stamps. The stamp will be sold, and the collection will be displayed at the Andrian Gale Museum in Orapa.
Speaking during the launch, the Vice President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, said the stamps are educational tools, preserve history and are also a form of investment.
The Vice President said that philately is based on the rarity of a stamp, and due to technology, Botswana stamps have become rare and are treasured. He added that Botswana Stamps are just as valuable as the diamonds.
Unfolding the diamond story, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi, stated that the first diamond mine (Orapa) opened in 1971, operated at full production by 1972 and provided 10% of the Government’s revenue and a third of export earnings.
Minister Moagi said the then agreement was that Botswana receives 15% of equity from Debeers, 10% royalty and income tax on the profits of the mine. On a lighter note, He said that seemed a better deal at the time.
Minister Moagi said one could have argued that the Government could have agreed to a better deal, but as time passed, Botswana and DeBeers reached a 50/50 agreement. He concluded by saying currently, diamonds contribute 70% of export earnings and almost half of the Government’s revenue.
The Debswana Managing Director, Mr Andrew Maatla Motsomi, congratulated Botswana Post for pioneering the project and considering Debswana as their ideal partner. He added that this was not the first time the two companies got into a partnership, as they together launched a stamp that show cases jewellery, the byproduct of diamonds, in 2001.