Can Botswana Survive the Lab-Grown Diamond Boom? episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 4, 2025 · 15 MIN

Can Botswana Survive the Lab-Grown Diamond Boom?

from Next Africa · host Bloomberg

Botswana became one of the richest countries in Africa because it's the world's biggest producer of diamonds by value -- but with lab-grown gems soaring in popularity, the sparsely-populated desert nation is facing a social and economic existential crisis President Boko has pledged to diversify the economy away from its over-reliance on a single resource, but the changes may have come too late. On this week’s episode, Bloomberg’s Matthew Hill and Botswana-based reporter Mbongeni Mguni join Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss their latest reporting from the region, and what the impact of the diamond slump looks like on the ground in Botswana. For more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 4, 2025

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Can Botswana Survive the Lab-Grown Diamond Boom?

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