Botswana signs energy and mining agreements with Oman

Botswana's President Duma Boko announced on Monday, April 13, the signing of energy and mining exploration agreements with Oman during his visit to the sultanate.

These include the construction in this southern African country of a 500 MW photovoltaic solar power plant with battery storage, as well as a "joint exploration agreement" for copper, gold, graphite and iron ore.

Few details are given in the presidential statement, which also mentions a "joint development agreement" for certain strategic infrastructure projects such as a storage site in Walvis Bay, on the Namibian coast, and a petroleum product depot in Tshele Hills.

Facing a cash shortage, with declining demand for diamonds and therefore falling prices, Botswana, a largely desert territory, is making numerous overtures to investors and attempting to diversify its economy.

The economy of this country of 2,5 million inhabitants is so dependent on this precious stone that the rating agency S&P downgraded its sovereign rating again in March --for the second time in six months-- due to the "structural weakness of global demand for diamonds".

Diamonds account for about 30% of Botswana's gross domestic product (GDP) and 80% of its exports, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Duma Boko took advantage of his visit to France last week to meet with the French employers' organization Medef, as well as to publish a text in the media outlet La Tribune praising the merits of his country for investors.

The project for a 100 million litre oil storage site in neighboring Namibia, at Walvis Bay, had already been mentioned by the head of the Botswana Oil group to several media outlets in February in South Africa.

Another project, Tshele Hills in Botswana, initially estimated at 170 million litres of storage, has been announced for years.