Making his debut at the JCK Las Vegas Show—the world’s premier diamond industry event—Boko led Botswana’s charge to assert that only natural diamonds carry an authentic story rooted in shared wealth, social impact, and origin. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Bogolo Kenewendo.
Amid the rise of lab-grown alternatives and looming U.S. trade tariffs, Botswana’s strong presence at the event aimed to reaffirm its leadership in the natural diamond space and unveil new strategies to defend, differentiate, and educate the market on the value of ethically mined stones.
Speaking at the launch of the House of Botswana on the sidelines of the show, Boko said diamonds are more than luxury items—they are vessels of love, history, and transformation. In Botswana, he said, diamonds have fueled social development by building classrooms, hospitals, and infrastructure.
According to him, diamonds helped transform Botswana from one of the world’s poorest countries at independence into one of the oldest and most stable democracies on the African continent.
This legacy, Boko argued, must not be diluted by the rise of lab-grown diamonds, which he said reduce a timeless symbol to a fleeting trend.
“We are not here to chase trends. We are here to remind the world: diamonds are not disposable. They are foundational. They are foundational to our economy. Foundational to our identity,” he stressed.
Boko did not mince words when addressing the lab-grown diamond industry. He criticized the sector for exploitative production methods, lack of transparency, and inflated prices marketed to what he called a misinformed public. He said lab-grown diamonds represent imitation, not innovation.
“Lab-grown diamonds are not in the same category. They are not in the same universe. How are we even competing with something made in a factory?” he said. Drawing a parallel to synthetic rubies and sapphires, which have lost market value, Boko warned lab-grown diamonds could face the same fate.
“That is not the future of diamonds. That is a warning,” he said.
He cautioned that mass production of synthetic gems threatens to strip diamonds of their true meaning: authenticity, permanence, and human connection. He urged retailers, brands, and producers to fight back—not with fear or gimmicks, but by reigniting the world’s love for natural diamonds through truth and storytelling.
Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Kenewendo said Botswana’s presence at the JCK show is part of a broader strategy built on defense, differentiation, and education. The country, she noted, is no longer content to be just a producer while the market blurs the lines between natural and synthetic diamonds.
On the defensive front, she said Botswana is making it clear that its diamonds are fundamentally different from lab-grown stones and do not compete with them. Natural diamonds, she stressed, possess a unique heritage, economic impact, and value that cannot be replicated in a lab.
As part of its differentiation efforts, Botswana is advocating for separate Harmonised System (HS) Codes for natural and synthetic diamonds. Without this distinction, synthetic stones can enter the market disguised as natural ones, misleading consumers and undermining the real product’s value. Kenewendo noted that this separation has already been implemented in several international markets.
“If trading is still blurry, then there is that blurred vision to the consumer as well,” Kenewendo said.
She said another critical area of differentiation lies in grading. Botswana pushed for changes in how diamonds are assessed, arguing that using the same system for both types was eroding the value of natural stones. As a result, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has reverted to using the traditional “4 Cs”—cut, color, clarity, and carat—exclusively for natural diamonds. Lab-grown stones are now graded using a simplified system.
“This will help with consumer education, with natural diamonds using carats, while synthetics use grams,” Kenewendo explained.
Kenewendo said a key moment in Botswana’s defense of the natural diamond industry came during its negotiations with De Beers over a new sales agreement. The country insisted that De Beers shut down Lightbox, its synthetic diamond division launched in 2019. As part of the agreement, Botswana encouraged the company to shift its synthetic diamond innovation toward industrial applications like semiconductors and computing, areas that do not threaten Botswana’s gem-quality diamond sector.
“We strongly objected to a brand so closely associated with natural diamonds operating in the lab-grown space. We were very clear on that,” she said.
Alongside these efforts, intensified marketing and consumer education campaigns are underway. Kenewendo said early signs of recovery in the natural diamond market are already emerging, with India showing 25 percent growth and positive trends also seen in Belgium and the United States. She expressed optimism that this momentum will translate into domestic economic growth.
“For the country, this is a life and death issue, as this resonates deeply with how we deliver services across government and society,” she said.
In anticipation of the rebound, Botswana is undertaking key structural reforms to sustain and benefit from the upswing.
Provenance is expected to play a vital role in how Botswana tells its diamond story. The country, through the Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), has partnered with Tracr, a blockchain-enabled platform that now issues digital certificates for all ODC diamonds in the three-to-six gram and two-to-10 carat size ranges, verifying their Botswana origin.
Previously, many diamonds from Botswana were generically labeled as “sorted in Botswana,” a classification that included stones from other De Beers partner countries such as Namibia, Canada, and South Africa. With traceability and provenance, Botswana can now clearly distinguish its diamonds and demonstrate how its revenues are used sustainably to uplift the economy.
Kenewendo said the De Beers-Botswana partnership, signed shortly after Boko took office, came at a pivotal time when the global diamond sector needed strong leadership to guide it toward key milestones and restore stability.
She called on midstream and downstream partners—including retailers and investors—to work with Botswana to develop a marketing and consumer education strategy that is authentic, resonates with today’s consumers, and secures a sustainable future for natural diamonds, especially those from Botswana.
More importantly, she emphasized, the plan must fully embrace Botswana’s dual role as both a leading producer and a steward of the natural diamond legacy.
