Botswana: Okavango Diamond Company Joins Natural Diamond Council

5 June 2024
The Patriot (Gaborone)

Okavango Diamond Company Unites with NDC in Effort to Support the Natural Diamond Industry and Spread Awareness of Botswana Diamond Industry

Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is a not-for-profit organisation that's committed to inspiring and educating consumers on the real, rare, and responsible values of natural diamonds and the positive global impact of the industry. NDC is pleased to announce its newest member, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC). The Botswana government-owned rough natural diamond marketing company joins the likes of De Beers and other responsible mining companies.

ODC is the first non-mining diamond company to be admitted as a member of NDC, recognizing ODC's importance in the upstream distribution of natural diamonds, and the importance that Botswana puts on inspiring consumer demand as a driver of future prosperity for the natural diamond industry.

ODC sells over 6M carats of rough natural diamonds a year, all sourced from Debswana, Botswana's flagship diamond mining company that accounts for 98% of Botswana's diamond production. In addition to offering their global customer base open access to scale supply of the full range of rough diamonds sourced from Botswana, ODC is also home to the famed Okavango Blue diamond, a 20.46 carat VVS1 oval brilliant, fancy, deep blue diamond.

NDC is thrilled to have ODC Managing Director, Mmetla Masire, join its board of directors. "We are very excited to announce our support of Natural Diamond Council," shared Masire. "ODC believes strongly in building customer confidence which we feel blends very seamlessly with NDC's mission to expand consumer awareness across the market. We look forward to working with NDC to further our mission to provide the Botswana Government with a direct route to market for its rough diamonds and to support the ongoing transformation of Botswana into a leading rough natural diamond sourcing destination."

"Botswana is a leading nation in setting the standards for the responsible management of its natural resources," shared David Kellie, CEO of NDC. "Okavango Diamond Company's membership of NDC allows us to share the story of the Botswana natural diamond industry more widely with the world. I'm excited by the leadership Mr. Masire and Okavango Diamond Company have shown in contributing to the future prosperity of the industry through their membership of NDC. We look forward to inspiring more consumers with the incredible story of Botswana's diamonds and the positive impact that they have for the Batswana. It's a story that consumers around the world are responding strongly to," adds Kellie.

Read the original article on The Patriot.

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