August 16, 2026

Nikki Aaron: Well, it’s always good to have you with us here on RT International. Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the president of Botswana, Duma Boko. Enjoy.

Voluvuyo Nkuge (RT): Mr President, thank you for joining us. We understand, and we know how demanding your schedule is during this visit, but we really appreciate you prioritising RT. But your visit does come at a pivotal moment, not only for the region, but as Botswana is redefining its economic as well as foreign policy agenda, and also at a time where Botswana is constantly forging those deeper relations with global partners, including Russia.

In fact, your foreign affairs minister recently confirmed those plans to open a physical embassy in Russia, deepening ties that go back to the 1970s. My question is, why now? What’s driving this decision?  Someone else will probably ask, why elevate the relationship to a physical presence during a time when global geopolitical crises are taking place?

President Advocate Duma Gideon Boko: Well, why now? It’s an interesting question. But I think it’s a recognition of a fact that has always been staring us in the face. Which is that of the five permanent members of the Security Council, Russia has been the only one in which we did not have a physical mission. And that has been something of an anomaly that required correction at some point in time. And that point happens to be now for us.

That’s the first. The second is we have had over the years many of our professionals, young people, receive training in Russia. And they have had to be serviced in terms of consular assistance from Sweden.

And if you look at Russia, as I said, one of the P5 countries and as big an economy as it has, there had to be some correction of that absence. And so now we will be there. We trust that there’s a lot that we will be able to accelerate in terms of our relations with Russia.

The expertise in many areas- we are both mining, diamond mining countries. We need much closer collaboration in that space for us to ensure that the diamond space is properly regulated. And so we have to be there.

So we felt that we needed to now establish a physical presence in Russia. They have had an embassy now in our country for many years. And we’ve enjoyed very, very strong, cordial relations with Russia.

So it’s as well.

RT: Your government has welcomed Russian business as well as technical partnerships aimed at mapping out unmapped reserves such as rare earths. But when you look at such a partnership, what does each side bring to the table, both as well as Moscow?

DGB: Well, we bring the resources under the ground, do we not? And Russia brings the weight of knowledge, expertise, technology, and technology that we need- deep earth scanning and prospecting.

There’s a large swathe of our country that is unexplored. And so we need these collaborations to explore the rest of the country. About 70 per cent remains largely unexplored.

And in this day and age where there’s an urgent need by the world economy for rare earth minerals, we need to take an active role and collaborate especially with Russia.

RT: Mr President, you do mention those major areas such as energy. We’ve had your administration also mentioning food security as well as professional training as critical areas that need cooperation as well as collaboration between Moscow and Botswana.

But given the difference in climate between the Southern African region and Russia, what does actual, practical real-world work look like on the ground?

DGB: Well, in the mining space, really, the technologies that Russia brings are exactly what we need. The difference in climate would apply principally in agriculture and perhaps natural resource management. But even in that space, there’s a lot of scientific learning that Russia has, with an advanced economy and a scientifically and technologically more advanced base gathered over the years.

And it will assist us as we make our own resource management capabilities more climate-resilient. We have to deal with extremities. They have to deal with the extremes of the polar climate.

We have to deal with extremities of heat and sometimes very arid conditions. And so we have a lot of learning to exchange and a lot to learn from Russia. So it’s absolutely important.

And again, in agro-processing, for instance, they have done more work, they’ve gathered more scientific understanding, which they will be able to make available to us.

RT: And looking at global trade, Russia and Botswana, as you have mentioned, are the main two giants of natural diamonds. But because of the sanctions directly targeting Russian origin stones, how do you then manage to protect Botswana’s market access in the West while also keeping that pragmatic relationship with Moscow?

DGB: Well, the world economy is integrated, is it not? And that integration sometimes pays no regard to some of the temporary political affinities and/or alliances.

And at any rate, those tend to be temporary and transient, and they’ll pass. You cannot ignore an economy like Russia’s, and even the West, even as it has maintained sanctions. On many occasions, those sanctions have tended not to matter as much as they otherwise could have.

And so we appreciate these dynamics, and we position ourselves for the here and now and for the unfolding future. And that unfolding future has the natural stone at the epicentre. And our collaboration with Russia is to achieve a number of things.

First, to keep the market protected so that it is not flooded and saturated in a haphazard and perhaps even reckless manner. And so we need that collaboration. We also need the authentication of provenance and the management, especially under the rubric of the Kimberley Process, which we are at the forefront of.

And Russia has actually been very supportive of Botswana in that space. When we came on board, and we took over the chairpersonship, Russia was behind us. And so we appreciate, and we understand that as we go forward, that relationship is going to be pivotal to the diamond industry.

RT: And you have talked about a new breed of African leaders that refused to repeat 1884, where foreign powers dictated the terms and conditions on the African continent. How do you then ensure that investors come in strictly on Botswana’s terms instead of just extracting minerals?

DGB: The first principle of coexistence with others is that you must exist. You must secure and assure your own existence.

And for us as a Southern African country, that existence must place us, and it does, both physically and in many other respects, within this sub-region of SADC. And then the broader context of the African continent. In that broader context, we need to appreciate that there has been very little intra-Africa trade.

And that now speaks to ensuring we exist as a bloc, as the African continent, under a buoyant new leadership that has learned from the mistakes of the past, that is not only about reciting fables of history and habit, but to make history.

And that history is being made, for starters with the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which will now open all the channels for intra-Africa trade. And when we talk intra-Africa trade, we’re talking about a young and dynamic population that is healthy, that is hungry for success.

And a population of 1.5 billion, 60 per cent of which comprises young people, and the median age across the breadth and dimensions of the African continent is 19. It is by far the youngest continent, and a continent that will rule the world. It has begun to assert itself in that regard.

And so one of the things that we do is to ensure that we connect, we open trade channels and corridors, the Lobito Corridor, the Maputo Corridor, all these. What we are trying to do between ourselves and Namibia is the Trans-Kalahari Rail Line, between ourselves and Zambia, the Mosetse Kazungula Livingstone, between ourselves and South Africa, we’re trying to ensure that product and produce can be quickly, efficiently, and affordably evacuated into the rest of Africa. That is the first.

In terms of energy, we’re going to have to now focus on transmission infrastructure. Because the biggest challenge, the bigger challenge for Africa is not generation capacity. It is the ability to wheel, to transport, to transmit electricity.

From Tanzania across, wherever there’s a shortage, wherever on the African continent, electricity must be able to flow there. And if we can have proper platforms that trade power, that enable the transmission, then we would have solved one of the biggest problems that the African continent faces.

And so once we have established that formidable existence as a continent, then we can face the other continents as that formidable force, as a player that merits, that deserves recognition, that can then lay out its own terms on the table and not capitulate or roll over for other continents and leaders to walk over.

That is the Africa that is coming up now. And you can see that Africa is taking shape. And that’s what we’re looking forward to.

RT: I ask that question, Mr President, because there’s a lot of talk about Western mining companies being interested in African and African resources. But from where you are sitting, are they actually bringing in technology transfers and local processing, or is it still just about raw extraction and business as usual?

DGB: Well, they come with their own offering. They come on terms that they deem appropriate and meet.

We, on the other hand, must set out our own terms. And when we do, we must be able then to stand firm, first on the deployment of resources and technology in-country, that the internalisation in African countries of technology is going to be essential. That is the first.

The second corollary of the first is skills, transfer of skills and training for our people. And we’re talking about, as I said, a young population that is highly, highly educated, very active, and that is easy to train. And therefore, when we go to the table, we bring our list of demands on which we may not be willing to compromise.

And you are unwilling to compromise when you are not begging. You appear there as a solid player. And in fact, a player that the whole world needs, because they have said Africa is the next frontier.

Africa is actually the now frontier. And so when they come, we set out our terms. We want beneficiation in our countries.

We want deployment of resources and technology. We want transfer of skills. We want the production of finished goods in our countries, which will then empower our people, grow our economies, and then we can trade with the rest of the world.

So whoever it is that comes will find a ready Africa, a capable Africa, and an Africa that is very clear on its requirements and demands, and an Africa that will not compromise on those demands.

RT: Anglo-American is selling off its 85% stake in De Beers, which is a huge shift in the industry. Botswana already holds that remaining 15%.

Where do you see the country’s relationship with the company going from here? And what is your vision for Botswana’s role in that transition?

DGB: Well, the first truth that bears no argument is that there cannot be De Beers without Botswana. That’s the touchstone, really. For there to be De Beers, there must be Botswana.

And Anglo and whoever else in the world understands this reality. And so when we approach, as we approach this transaction, we approach it from the vantage point of Botswana actually providing over 70% of the value of De Beers. That’s huge.

And we want Botswana to feel, experience, and enjoy the full benefits of that 70% value that it gives to TBS. And this is not open to any challenge. And so Botswana will play one of the most critical and leading roles in the diamond industry.

And it is against this understanding that we reach out, for instance, and we embrace Russia as another major player in the diamond space. So if you take Botswana, you take Angola, you’re basically looking at the key players and Namibia. And so the future of the industry has Botswana all over it, without any doubt.

And we are well on course. We’re handling the transaction. And we are confident that it will deliver for Botswana the best outcomes. And it will secure the future, not just of De Beers as a company, but of the diamond industry. It will stabilise. It will restore hope in the industry.

RT: If you don’t mind me asking, Mr President, I know you’ve mentioned Namibia, Angola, as well as Russia. Would you be more interested in taking full majority ownership of the company? Or would you be more comfortable working alongside a private equity owner?

DGB: I want to put it in these terms. We want to have a controlling stake, whatever shape or form it takes. Botswana, as I say, which provides 70% of the actual value, the real value of De Beers, must have a voice and role that is commensurate with that contribution. And so that will play out as the transaction unfolds. But these are some of the broad parameters of what will ultimately occur.

RT: And Botswana has always been unique in that it has always had a direct seat at the table with a global diamond giant. Do you think that that approach can be used as a playbook by other African countries to take more control over their own resources?

DGB: Yes, and I think it already is being used. Botswana is central to the story about proper management and utilisation of any country’s natural resources.

Many African countries are now learning. They are coming. We’ve just had fruitful engagements, and we now are firming up collaboration with Cote d’Ivoire to jointly do mining and exploration in Cote d’Ivoire to exchange knowledge and skills.

And so Africa is already looking to Botswana. Botswana is the exemplar. And we are happy to engage with all these countries and lead a resurgence and an appreciation of the full value of the mineral wealth of the continent.

RT: Now, would global trade shifts as well as tariff uncertainties pushing local trade or regional trade be more urgent?  Botswana has launched its national Africa continental free trade area strategy. But now that it is in motion, what sort of tangible results are you seeing on the ground?

DGB: Well, we’ve begun, for instance, to forge collaboration with Zambia, and many others will come on board. We have the Botswana-Mercantile Exchange platform where goods and products will be exchanged, and other African countries’ producers will be able to play a part.

What will be critical is also that we open up these trade corridors. See, one of the biggest disadvantages of the colonial era, this is a huge baggage on our countries, is that Africa was not connected either through surface transportation, rail, road, and even air transportation. So we need to ensure that it is easy, it is quick, it is affordable, and it is efficient to travel from one part of Africa to the other.

Now, to travel, for instance, from Rwanda to Mozambique, one has to go to Dar es Salaam. So you can see already the real difficulty. So Africa needs to make it easy for goods and services to move within the African continent itself.

And once this happens, we then will be able to open up intra-Africa trade. The volumes are very low. And Africa has always been externally focused because of the nature of the infrastructure as well.

And that infrastructure was designed for evacuation of ore in the raw. We now must not evacuate unprocessed ore. We need to process in country, on the continent, and we need to engage amongst ourselves.

And there will be a need for collaboration there, both at the level of capital raising, mobilisation of capital to invest and develop, but also in the pooling of resources and skills by Africans. Many of our young, talented people are out in Europe and the Americas. They need to come back.

They must be given a very good and compelling reason to return to Africa and participate in the development of the continent. And that’s what we all must do as African leaders. And of course, Pan-African trade sounds good, and it seems good on paper.

But anyone trying to move goods and products across different borders on the African continent knows that it is a difficult thing to do.

RT: From Botswana’s perspective, what has been your biggest hurdle or obstacle during this process?

DGB: Well, first, the obstacle, the obvious one, is that our economies were extractive. Dealing in unprocessed minerals, lacking any inclination towards beneficiation, any skill development of our people in actual production.

So we have tended to export raw. We now must focus on not being big on extraction, but take it all the way to actually producing finished goods, which the world needs.

The world needs our copper, but it must be finished goods, which create jobs and opportunities for people on the African continent and make the case for those who are out in the diaspora to return, because their continent will be able to take care of them.

So this is a starting point. And the next, as I indicated, is the development of these trade corridors. Harmonisation of practices, processes, and even laws to make it easy for African countries to trade amongst themselves.

And that will require the capability, for instance, in financial terms, to trade in each other’s countries, to be able to trade without having to go to Chase Manhattan in New York for any transaction. So we need to be able to engage on these terms. And the hurdles are there.

It is exactly to overcome these hurdles that these plans and strategies were laid out. And it is now for us to implement. And that is the real test.

RT: The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, as they always say. Now, the African Union has made reparation justice its central focus, calling and pushing for a unified African position, as well as a reparation fund.

Where does Botswana stand in all of this? What is your take on this? And what sort of results are you hoping to see out of this push?

DGB:  It’s a very interesting, very formidable question. I think that at the broader level, it is about a recognition of the fact that many of these developed economies were constructed on African resources. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.

Even if those who plundered Africa tend not to acknowledge and tend to want to downplay the impact of colonialism, for instance, and their active involvement in the removal of African resources, and even physically African people to go and build their countries.

So making the case for justice through reparation is first to make this evocative moral argument, take it home to those who participated, that they are responsible for the state in which Africa is, because of what they did in first carving up a portion of the continent amongst themselves, and extracting resources, if you take Belgium in the DRC. Actually, the massacre of tens of millions of African people there. These are things that must be acknowledged.

The better for the whole world to realise that they have an obligation to atone. An obligation of atonement cannot be challenged. And so before we get to the actual payment of reparation, there has to be a change in attitude to appreciate that they were responsible for so much, so many of the horrors that took place on the African continent, and resultantly, they have, through those activities, retarded the progress of Africa.

They must just appreciate this, and it must be recorded in the annals of history. And then we become practical about the atonement. What does it entail? They must provide some recompense.

And we insist. And Botswana is part of that African position. And you take Namibia; you’re dealing with the massacre of many.

Many of them actually fled to Botswana. So we have direct experience. We’ve had interactions with those who fled the massacre in their own country.

Genocide, actually, if we put it accurately. And genocide took place across many parts of Africa, no less than the slave trade. So we associate ourselves fully with the position declared by the African Union to seek reparative justice for Africa, for the African people, and to bring it to the consciences of those, if any conscience they have.

And I know many have consciences that are so elastic that they will stretch and accommodate all horrors and injustices that they wreaked on Africa. But we need to bring a message home to them, and we will continue to do that.

RT: And just lastly, Mr President, as we let you go, what message would you like to send with this summit (SADC) this weekend? A lot of people do say that it’s just a routine summit. It happens every other year or every year. What message are you, as civic leaders, hoping to send with the summit?

DGB: First, we are not here, I’m certain, to regale ourselves with edifying fables of history. We are here to focus on operationalising, playing our part as the SADC region in the effectuation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

We are here to focus and recommit to action, tangible, deliverable outcomes on the improvement of infrastructure and the interconnection of first the region, and then the next, and the next. We want to move away, and that’s why we come together as a bloc, from previous strategies of disjointed incrementalism. We want to have a united, harmonised approach.

And then we want to be able to see the plans and the actions translate into concrete, material deliverables, life-affirming, transformative outcomes in the lives and livelihoods of our people. And that’s what we are about.

RT: Mr President, thank you so much for joining us. Again, we know and understand how busy and demanding the schedule has been this weekend, so we really appreciate you putting us first and prioritising our team.

DGB: Absolute pleasure. Thank you very, very much.

RT: Thank you.