HB Botswana pioneers excited at prospects of disru[ting the traditionally opaque diamond industry
The Pan Afrikanist Watchman
Local graduates who had the opportunity to partake in the HB Antwerp training programme are excited about the positive changes that are coming into Botswana because of the revolutionary way HB Botswana will conduct business.
A 25-year-old industrial engineering graduate Tlotlo Motsumi explained that HB Botswana is revolutionizing the way Tswana diamonds are sold.
He explained that HB Antwerp has formulated a disruptive business model that gives our local diamonds a story.
“This is done through data driven analogy which is available to all the stakeholders involved in the sale of diamonds” Motsumi said.
He notes that data contains information about whose hands the diamond passed through and what their role was in creating the product.
This way the diamonds carry a story about the humans that benefit positively from the sale of diamonds.
Furthermore, this method also promotes the local ecosystem as buyers get an opportunity to learn more about the nation.
Motsumi is elated that just a year ago he finished school and now he has gone through intensive classes on business, employability skills and he narrated about their training leg in Belgium which began on the 6th of September.
He explained that the 15 associates were divided into different departments which together make up the HB Botswana operation.
There are 10 departments which they have been divided into and the cohort will be involved in the process of transforming a rough diamond to its final product and its sale.
Some of the different departments are the galaxy department. This department is one of the first to get in contact with the rough diamonds.
Then the diamonds go to the rough planning department, the laser department, the droid development, the quality control and data administration department just to name a few.
Motsumi explains that Antwerp trained them to use advanced mechanical technologies that are not available anywhere in the world, adding that they will get the opportunity to use these machines in their new roles.
Motsumi is excited to be part of the journey that I part and parcel of the Botswana success story.
His wish is that there could be a mini museum that will showcase diamonds to Batswana because many locals have not ever seen a diamond.
Another Industrial Engineering graduate who is 28 years old Keeditswe Maithamako said that their method of business is a closed loop business model.
This method ensures that the whole process of transforming a diamond to its final product are done in-house.
He notes that this is advantageous because then the local ecosystem can retain more profits from the sale of diamond.
Maithamako said that the local takeover of the whole value chain of diamond production is being taken over by young graduates who are from Botswana.
He admitted that he had never seen a local company recruit fresh graduates and train them.
“When we started the training program we were 30, others are still completing their school studies so they could not complete the training program at Belgium.” Maithamako explained.
Maithamako said that he hopes that they will be involved in a lot of Corporate Social Responsibility as an organization.
He also hopes that other local industries like the beef, coal and copper industry will stop exporting raw products that are sold back into the country at a higher price but rather that they will maximize on their potential and make more monies for the nation.
