DIAMOND DIPLOMACY

Botswana President Duma Boko tells Newsweek about his goal of a zero-tariff deal with Washington, leveraging natural resources as the U.S. seeks stable African partners

- BY TOM O'CONNOR Tom O'Connor is senior writer, foreign policy and deputy editor, national security and foreign policy at Newsweek. Follow him on X @ShaolinTom

WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S RECENT trip to China reinforcing the significance of global competition for resources, the head of a diamond-rich African nation—one sitting atop recently discovered deposits of rare earth and critical minerals—is looking to strike a deal to boost trade ties with the United States.

And even though Trump's heightened tariffs continue to impact U.S. relations, Botswana President Duma Boko said that he could relate to the U.S. leader's prioritization of domestic interests, while also finding common ground to serve as the basis for a mutually beneficial agreement that could aid in the U.S. quest for strategic partners and resources.

“Every country pursues its interests. That is reality,” Boko told Newsweek.

“President Trump is America First; I am Botswana First. The task of leadership is to find where those interests meet so we can create shared prosperity.

“On those terms,” Boko said, “President Trump is someone with whom you can do business.”

The Race to Zero

At the heart of the deal are diamonds, a high-demand mineral that has helped transform Botswana from one of Africa’s poorest nations upon gaining independence from the United Kingdom six decades ago to one of its richest in terms of GDP per capita. The most recent available data shows the country is the world’s second largest diamond producer by value and by volume, after Russia.

But the industry that accounts for roughly 80 percent of Botswana's export revenue is contending with major challenges, including the rise of synthetic lab-grown diamonds, growing global stockpiles and, particularly in the unrivaled U.S. market, tariffs.

“Tariffs are not the greatest challenge to Botswana's diamond industry. But tariffs complicate matters,” Boko said. “One cannot pretend otherwise when the United States is the world’s largest consumer market for diamond jewelry.