A banking industry expert will head Debswana Diamond Co – a Botswana-based diamond mining joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Botswana and De Beers Group.

Andrew Maatla Motsomi was named managing director of Debswana on a five-year contract. According to De Beers, which owns 50 per cent of the diamond miner, Motsomi was deputy governor of the Bank of Botswana, where he also held several key strategic and leadership positions.

As deputy governor, he represented Botswana regionally and internationally in various forums, including the country’s membership of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also worked on attachment at the IMF in Washington DC as a special appointee as well as serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis.

Motsomi is succeeding Lynette Armstrong, who had been acting in the role since August 2019, following the passing of previous Debswana Managing Director Albert Milton.