Botswana's diamond industry must stop selling its stones as a raw commodity and start marketing them as a luxury brand, according to Lucara Botswana Managing Director Naseem Lahri, who made the case at the inaugural Botswana Investment Forum on November 9, 2026.
According to The Business Weekly & Review, Lahri told the forum that the country has spent decades competing in a commodity market where buyers haggle over price, instead of building the premium identity that luxury goods command.
From commodity pricing to brand value
Lahri drew a sharp line between commodity buyers and luxury consumers. Commodity shoppers watch the price tag; luxury shoppers do not.
When people buy a commodity, they are price sensitive. When people buy a luxury brand, price is out of the window.
She pointed to the performance of French luxury group LVMH during the COVID-19 pandemic as proof that high-end consumption holds firm under pressure. LVMH raised prices by 20 percent during the crisis, she said, and its net profits still grew by 47 percent.
The lesson for Botswana is direct. The country has the diamond legacy, the governance record and the global reputation to support a luxury proposition, but it has never used them.
We have sold a commodity. That's exactly what we have sold as a country. We have never sold our diamonds as a brand or a luxury brand.
We have a good story. We have a legacy. We have got everything. We have got strong governance.
Time to look beyond the American market
Lahri also challenged one of the industry's oldest assumptions: that Botswana's diamonds should flow toward the United States. She called the American market cheap and argued the country should sell to buyers who value what Botswana produces.
I do not think we should sell our diamonds to the Americans. It is a cheap market. We do not want to sell our very expensive brand diamonds or luxury brand diamonds to a cheap market.
Her argument lands at a moment of wider restructuring in the sector. Botswana is moving to double its stake in De Beers to 30 percent, which would make it the company's largest shareholder, as WWD reported. President Duma Boko has also said that Namibia and Angola would join the ownership arrangement, according to AP News, putting the region's producing nations at the table together for the first time.
The timing matters. Forbes notes that diamond revenue built Botswana into one of Africa's most stable and prosperous economies, and the recent slump in the diamond market has hit the country hard. Weak luxury demand and competition from laboratory-grown stones continue to pressure prices, as the Botswana Gazette has reported. Owning more of the pipeline is one answer. Selling what Botswana mines at a premium is the other.
The lesson of XRT technology
Lahri backed her argument with Lucara's own history. When the Karowe mine started production, the company copied processing technology used elsewhere in the industry. It quickly discovered the approach was destroying diamonds during recovery.
We were using the technology to extract our diamonds initially when we went live as a mine, and very quickly realised that we were losing our diamonds through the process because we copied and pasted.
Lucara then took a calculated risk. It adapted X-ray Transmission technology, which had been used in agro-processing, and rebuilt its recovery plants around it. The transition was difficult, but the payoff was measurable. The company invested roughly $50 million in plant upgrades, and the Lesedi La Rona diamond later sold for $53 million.
We were bold and fearless.
Her point was plain: copying what others do is not a strategy. Whether in processing technology or in marketing, Botswana's industry must be prepared to break with convention.
Downstream is where the money is
Lahri pushed the argument beyond marketing. Botswana's domestic market is small, she said, so businesses must build products and services with export markets in mind from the start. The real value sits further down the chain, in cutting, polishing, jewellery manufacture and beyond.
Downstream is the key. That's where the money is made.
The same principle, she argued, applies to agriculture and agro-processing. Moving beyond primary production into higher-value activities is how a small economy with limited domestic demand captures wealth instead of watching it leave.
For a country whose prosperity rests on diamonds, the message from one of the industry's senior operators is hard to ignore. Botswana controls assets the luxury world would pay for. The question is whether the industry will finally present them that way.
FAQ
What did Naseem Lahri say about Botswana diamonds?
Speaking at the inaugural Botswana Investment Forum on November 9, 2026, the Lucara Botswana Managing Director said Botswana must market its diamonds as a luxury brand rather than a commodity, and target buyers willing to pay a premium.
Why does Lahri oppose selling diamonds to the American market?
She described the United States as a cheap market for Botswana's stones and argued the country should instead sell to markets that recognise and pay for luxury positioning.
How much did Lucara invest in XRT technology?
Lucara invested approximately $50 million in processing plant upgrades, and the Lesedi La Rona diamond recovered through the new technology sold for $53 million.