Botswana’s Minister of Mines and Energy: Looking forward to expanding cooperation with China in the mining and energy fields

China News Service, Tianjin, September 12 (Chen Haoxing) On September 11, at the Botswana-China Mining and Energy Cooperation Roundtable held in Tianjin, Bogolo Joy Kenewundo, Minister of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Botswana, said in an interview with China News Service that Botswana is promoting mining diversification and economic structural transformation, and hopes to further expand cooperation with Chinese companies in the fields of minerals, energy, transmission lines, battery solutions, and technological innovation.

Botswana is located in southern Africa and is known as the "Land of Diamonds". In 2025, the bilateral trade volume between China and Botswana will be US$1.222 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.3%. China and Botswana established diplomatic relations on January 6, 1975.

Among them, the diamond industry has long been an important pillar of Botswana's economy. However, with the changes in the international natural diamond market, Botswana is seeking to reduce its dependence on a single commodity. While consolidating the diamond industry, it is accelerating the exploration and development of mineral resources such as copper, nickel, coal, platinum group metals, manganese, and rare earths.

Kenevendo said Botswana’s economy has relied heavily on diamonds in the past, making it a typical single-commodity economy. Efforts are being made to promote diversification within the mining industry and to promote economic expansion beyond mining.

According to her, Chinese companies have already participated in the layout of Botswana's Kalahari copper mine belt and invested a lot of money. At the same time, Botswana is also promoting the development of platinum group metal mineral belts and seeking cooperation in the coal mine field.

With the help of this platform, the Botswana government hopes to further connect with Chinese mining, energy and related industrial enterprises and shift investment promotion to enterprises, projects and specific cooperation.

At the 2026 China International Mining Conference held from September 10 to 12, she observed that China already has a relatively complete mining industry chain and has strong industrial and technical capabilities in geological exploration, mine construction, mining equipment, mineral processing and smelting, mine digitalization and intelligence, new energy, power infrastructure, and mining talent training. Botswana, on the other hand, has a good mineral resource base, a stable investment environment, and practical needs for further development of the mining and energy industries.

In her view, the two sides are highly complementary in these areas. "We are eager for professional experience, innovation and advanced technology in resource exploration." Kenevendo said.

Kenevendo revealed that this roundtable meeting has led to a group of mining and energy companies planning to visit the country. She said that Botswana welcomes Chinese companies to take root there and use it as a pivot to expand the southern African market.

On September 30 this year, Botswana will celebrate its 60th anniversary of independence. Kenevendo said that Botswana hopes to truly transform its resource advantages into a driving force for industrial development through more mineral value addition, job creation, technology transfer and talent training.