RMB Africa Focus – How can Botswana reinvent its economy?
Drive with John Perlman · 2 June 2026 · 8m
Speaker 1: Seven minutes now to five. R and B Africa Focus is brought to you by Speaker 1: R and B, a leading African corporate and investment bank. Today, our focus is on Speaker 1: Botswana and how the country is positioning itself for growth beyond diamonds. R and B Speaker 1: Africa Focus is back for a fifth season to explore Africa's economic resilience and strategic Speaker 1: role in global economies. Over the coming weeks, we'll look at how countries across the Speaker 1: continent are sustaining momentum, unlocking opportunity, and positioning themselves in a continuously evolving global landscape. Speaker 1: This week, the focus turns to Botswana. For decades, Botswana stood out as a standout Speaker 1: success story and an exception to the so called African resource curse. Buttswana has successfully Speaker 1: transformed its diamond wealth into economic and political stability. But that model is now under Speaker 1: strain as lab grown synthetic diamonds, which now make up forty percent of the global Speaker 1: market for stones under five carrots, disrupt global markets and reduce demand for natural stones. Speaker 1: Botswana's economic model is under significant pressure. To help look at this more closely and Speaker 1: understand it better, we're joined by award winning journalist Crystal Ortism. Crystal, welcome, great to Speaker 1: have you on the show. So diamonds, yes, still a key part of the Botswana Speaker 1: economic expert What next for the country? What else are they looking at? What's the Speaker 1: future plan? Good afternoon, Good. Speaker 2: Afternoon, John. So diamonds cannot be forever and that's unfortunately the story for Botswana, and Speaker 2: I think this great success story, as you mentioned, is increasingly becoming a very cautionary Speaker 2: tale about…
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