[music]
- Welcome back, everyone, to the special edition of
The Balancing Act. We're taking a closer look at
the global impact of diamonds. - That's true. William Lamb of the
Lucara Diamond Corp and Karen Rentmeesters
of the Antwerp World Diamond Center,
they both join us again, thank you so much
for staying with us. Let's first talk
about the fact that Botswana, in southern
Africa, is one of the leading producers of diamonds. Your mine is known as Karowe. - We've been in production
at Karowe since 2012. But we obviously started
quite a bit before then. Just because you have a license
to build a mine, doesn't mean you can
go in and start to dig a hole. And for us, the most
important thing was actually engaging with the local
communities very, very early on. And the way we've
actually run it is very much of an
inclusive process. It's making sure that they know
everything that we're doing. And it's really our
way of making sure that they actually
understand what we're doing and how we can actually
give back in the long term. - And some of the
stones recovered from Karowe are
really impressive. In fact, Karen, you
and I before the break, we were looking at the
Lesedi La Rona, correct? William, there are
many others, right? - Yep, one thing
that characterizes the Karowe mine is our ability
to recover large, tucked away stones. And we innovated technology
previously not used in the diamond industry,
but that actually led to the recovery of some
very, very high value stones. And to date, we've
recovered 148 stones, which we've sold for more
than a million dollars. But that's not the real truth. Those stones have actually sold
for an excess of half a billion dollars. (woman exclaims)
- So you can imagine, 148 stones,
in two big hands you could hold that value. But for us, it's more
important to understand that between 55 and
65% of that number has actually gone back
to the Botswana people, in terms of royalties,
taxes, employment, local sourcing, different
small contracts which we use. And I think it's important
for people to understand that that's what happens
in most African countries. There is a significant portion
of the value recovered, it is their diamonds, after all,
that goes back into the country. - [Olga] That's fantastic. - And you know some
specific statistics about the impact, right? - If you look at Botswana
before the diamond industry, we had about 12
kilometers of paved road. Today, that's 7,000. If you look at the life
expectancy rate at birth, before the diamond
industry, that was 37. 37 years old, that was the
average life expectancy. Today, that's 66. If you look at it
that way, you see that the diamond
industry actually has a very positive impact on
the lives of the people who live in these countries,
and not just Botswana, but a whole lot
of other countries where the same
principle applies. It's making a big,
big difference. - And we touched on it earlier. It's so important to
Lucara to have that positive impact. - Oh, very much so. And it's not just
what we give back in taxes, and royalties,
and employment, but there's other little
things that you can do. Coming back to the large stones,
when we auctioned the Lesedi, we actually put up
three smaller stones, 'bout five carats in size,
and we had a reserve price. And when they were
actually sold in auction, the people that were
there were very generous. Donations like that go to help,
and it went to three different charities. One was obviously a wildlife
trust, but more importantly, one was to grandmothers
of AIDS orphans. And they are such
dears, these old ladies who actually came together
because of a common purpose. And then the third
one, which is I think is even better, is
specific wheelchairs designed for the local terrain,
so it's like a 4x4 wheelchair. And you get to see these people
and the joy on their faces when they can actually
have that mobility. And that's where we get a lot
more, just that warm feeling. - And it's actually long-term,
because you change the lives of these people forever. They get jobs, they are trained. Even after the diamond
industry is gone, which is going to
happen, they will still have skills they can
use to have jobs, and to have a meaningful life. There's a ton of
things you can name as positive impact on
the local communities. - And speaking of
positive impact, we actually have
a small clip that I'd like to share
with our viewers. It's from your community
liaison officer in Botswana. Her name is, and if I
say this incorrectly, I'm sorry, Kgali Mokgweetsi? - [William] Perfect. - And it's her with
the locals there. Let's take a look. (bright music)
- We are proud in Botswana to have a government
whereby all the minerals from the country
are there to develop the country. Botswana is being
developed by the diamonds. We've got schools,
our kids are being educated through diamonds. We've got
hospitals and
all the infrastructure that you can see in our country
is because of the diamond industry. And we have seen the lives
of Botswana being uplifted, and we have seen most of
Botswana doing businesses. Right now, I work
for a mine that I'm proud of, because
of local empowerment. All of the positions in the
executive committee is held by Botswana, something was
very rare in the last 10 years. - My journey at Boteti
has transformed me from a traditional CFO
to a very dynamic one. I'm now responsible for
finance and security, security being a very critical
part of the diamond industry. This responsibility has given me
the opportunity to be a key player
in assisting and securing the nation's assets. (speaks foreign language)
- Mines should continue to operate,
because they help in the development of the village,
and personal growth of community members. - [Narrator] Part of
that community-building is the female
empowerment network. - As a woman, I believe
that it's very important to support other
women in business. I empower ladies. We go on workshops, we
do a lot of activities. (speaks foreign language)
- I'm a woman who started a business
in a male-dominated industry. This means nothing
is impossible. If we all work together,
there's nothing we can't do. - Social corporate
responsibility helps the disadvantaged people. It also boost the
morale of the workers, understanding very well
that their companies are not only for profit margins,
they're there to uplift the people from poverty. - That's fantastic,
you see it right there. - It's like Gandhi said, it's
one of my favorite quotes. Be the change that you want
- Be the change. to see in the world. - [Karen] Exactly. - Just a quick
thing about Kgali. She, a few years ago,
won the President's Award just for the work that she'd
actually done with sports, she actually played
national team netball. And she's worked a lot
with females, or ladies, in-country, trying to
empower them, as well. And it's not just that we
target a certain sector. We try to look at
the broader scope of the entire population,
as what we can. - What great stuff. - Yes. - Thanks so much to her. God bless her, and
just, great information. - Yes, thank you. I said this earlier, just
such a wealth of knowledge it's so fabulous--
- So much I didn't know,
