Al Cook

DE Beers is sitting on a stockpile of $2bn worth of diamonds – the biggest such stash since the global financial crisis of 2008, according to a report in the Financial Times – and that speaks volumes to the challenges that Cook faces in 2025 as parent group Anglo American prepares to sell or spin off the company. The bottom line is that De Beers has been waylaid by seismic economic and technical trends that have taken the shine off natural diamonds. The global economy remains in the rough with demand from China – the commodity king – flagging.

 Meanwhile, De Beers has had to confront a surge in demand for lab-grown diamonds, which are much cheaper than the real thing. With consumers worldwide hard hit by inflation, price matters more than slogans about a product’s eternal value. Cook’s 2025 inbox will also include inking a new diamond sales agreement with Botswana, a prospect that has been boosted by the shock election defeat of the Botswana Democratic Party after 58 years in power. Botswana’s new President Duma Boko has signalled he wants to finalise the deal, which will see the government’s share of diamonds from the Debswana joint venture with De Beers increase to 50% over the next decade from 25%. 

The depressed diamond market has hit Botswana’s economy hard and propelled Boko into power.  De Beers hopes to rekindle natural diamond demand with a category-specific advertising campaign freed from the capital constraints imposed by Anglo. With its current hoard, it needs buyers.