For Petra Diamonds, De Beers' Africa Move Is A Boon

 
At least one diamond company operating in southern Africa predicts that De Beers' decision to move its sorting operations to the region will have a positive effect on its own bottom line, Bloomberg reports. Petra Diamonds chief executive officer Johan Dippenaar said in an interview on Friday that the relocation of De Beers, the world's number one diamond producer by value, to Botswana, will also mean increased business for his own firm, which is based in neighboring South Africa.
Dippenaar said that Petra was considering altering the schedule of the seven annual tenders it conducts in Johannesburg in order to align them with the ten annual "Sights" that De Beers will hold in Botswana, to allow diamond buyers to conveniently attend both company's events in sequence. De Beers' arrangement with the government of Botswana stipulates that in order to secure access to the country's diamonds for the next decade, it must move its base of operations to the country by the end of this calendar year, ending its 125-year history in London, England.