The Botswana Government will create a parallel trading platform alongside its current marketing arrangement with De Beers, head of the Botswana Diamond Hub Dr Tombale announced on Wednesday.

Speaking at the annual Botswana Resource Sector Conference in the capital Gaborone, Dr Tombale said the parallel platform would have two objectives; price discovery and to have “inputs” into the current sightholder system of De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company (DTC).

"We are going to have a parallel trading arrangement because we want to attract traders and independent producers. Botswana diamonds should be a catalyst."

"I believe De Beers has also come around," Dr Tombale said.

“We are trying to create traffic in Botswana. If we are trading the volumes people should be able to come to Botswana to trade diamonds here. Dubai is exporting $3 billion of diamonds, about the same as ourselves, but they have no mines, ” he said.

The Botswana Government officially declared the Diamond Hub official Government policy in April 2008, with the goal of creating a local long term multi functional diamond industry ahead of an inevitable fall in revenues from relying solely on diamond mining and creating alternative sources of revenue and opportunities for additional employment.