Gaborone: Botswana’s rough-diamond exports bounced back last year after a plunge in 2015, helping the country return to economic growth.
The nation shipped $4.02 billion of rough in 2016, a jump of 54 percent, according to the Bank of Botswana. Fourth-quarter exports leapt to $1 billion from $114.1 million a year earlier.
In 2015, orders dived 34 percent because of a slump in demand due to oversupply of polished and inflated rough prices. This dented the performance of Botswana-focused miners such as De Beers, whose sales fell 36 percent that year.
Botswana’s total exports, of which 83 percent are diamonds, grew by an estimated 21 percent in 2016, mainly as a result of the recovery in the diamond market, the minister added.
“The outlook [based on estimated data for] 2016 is positive, with the economy expected to [have grown] 2.9 percent for the year, and is forecast to reach 4.2 percent in 2017,” Kenneth Matambo, minister of finance and economic development, said in a budget speech February 6.
Botswana’s economy grew 4.1 percent in 2014, before contracting by 1.7 percent in 2015, Matambo said.
