De Beers’ Building Forever strategy aims to leave a lasting positive legacy for communities long after the last diamond has been discovered. The strategy is currently in revision with the aim to create greater impact and value in the countries in which it operates. GERARD PETER finds out more from TEFO MOLOSIWA, head of policy and planning: safety, sustainable development and risk.

De Beers believes that natural diamonds represent more than beautiful gemstones; they can forge a brighter future. They can fuel nations, empower communities and livelihoods. The Building Forever sustainability strategy underpins the company’s efforts to create meaningful impact for people and places where the company’s diamonds are discovered.

Already, De Beers has made significant strides in this regard. For example, it has supported SMEs and women entrepreneurs in Southern Africa and is advancing ethical business practices throughout the diamond value chain. At the end of 2023, CEO Al Cook launched De Beers Origins business strategy which focuses on the origin of the natural diamond.

Molosiwa explains: “It’s the first time we have linked De Beers’ strategic intent directly to our countries of origin. It talks about the essence, the scarcity and the uniqueness of the natural diamond in relation to where it originates. It focuses on the value it brings to us as a business as well as all stakeholders, including communities. “As a result, over the past few months, De Beers has been engaging with key stakeholders to get a better understanding of the value and impact our operations have.

Subsequently, we are revising our Building Forever strategy and have identified three key principles to drive our vision.” The first principle is creating larger programmes focused on integrated outcomes and impact. “Our engagement with stakeholders showed that we need to create mega programmes that have multiple value outputs,” states Molosiwa.

The second principle is building partnerships. “As we develop our sustainability programmes, we are hyper-conscious of partnerships in terms of technical expertise and financial input that can be leveraged to create greater value,” Molosiwa adds. The third principle is to develop programmes that are self-sufficient now and into the future. Molosiwa adds that if these programmes are developed correctly, they will create spin-offs into other opportunities for communities to be self-sustainable.

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Going beyond mining

Mines play an important role in supporting the socio-economic development of communities. In South Africa where unemployment levels are high and service delivery challenges persist, communities often look to mining operations for support in areas such as infrastructure, education and healthcare. Not only does De Beers contribute to creating employment opportunities but it also invests in initiatives that help build sustainable livelihoods beyond mining. A case in point is the work De Beers is doing in the Blouberg Local Municipality which is close to its Venetia mine in Limpopo. The area has an 86% dependency ratio which is effectively the number of dependents against the working population. It also has a 47% youth unemployment rate and is projected to have a negative growth.

On a positive note, the area has rich soil to grow potatoes. In fact, out of the 2.5 million tonnes of potatoes that South Africa produces, 22% is grown in Limpopo. This translates into US$49.1 million in export revenue. However, for the most part, subsistence farming is practiced, with less than 1% of these financial benefits going to black farmers. Furthermore, up to 35% of the subsistence produce goes to waste due to pests, lack of fertiliser and other wastage.

Realising this challenge but also the opportunity, the team at Venetia, led by their senior general manager Ntokozo Ngema, has helped to create an agricultural hub in the Blouberg area. “The team has employed the services of a technical partner who teaches the farmers production planning, the use of fertilisers and pesticides and other production enhancing processes,” explains Molosiwa.

“They have also centralised key aspects of productivity such as mechanisation. For example, instead of each small farmer buying their own tractor, they can rent one for the time needed and return it. We are also erecting a building that will accommodate cold storage as well as logistics for the farmers and finally working on a programme for washing the potatoes before shipping them to the customers. All of this increases the profit for the farmer. “Most importantly, we are helping these farmers to secure off-take agreements for their produce. When farmers have commercial contracts, they can leverage them to get access to funding and grow their businesses. All of this ensures that we create a self-sustaining system over time, one which is beneficial to farmers and the community at large.”

Another initiative implemented in the Musina area is producing renewable diesel. To that end, De Beers is trialling the planting of Moringa and Solaris. Oils from these plants are extracted and through a partnership with Sasol who will process these oils, the end result is renewable diesel. It is estimated that once the project is in full swing, it will produce about 120 million litres of bio-diesel which can be used in De Beers’ operations. In addition, the by-products can be used as animal fodder, thereby creating a secondary income stream for communities.

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At the core of everything that De Beers does is its commitment to provenance. “As a diamond company, we want to ensure that there is trust and transparency and ensure that our customers are assured that every diamond has a lasting impact on their countries of origin, including communities,” adds Molosiwa.

It is for this reason that De Beers has implemented its Tracr programme. “This allows customers to fully understand the origins of a diamond as well as the value we have created in terms of livelihoods and the impact it has had on uplifting communities,” states Molosiwa.

He adds that the beauty of De Beers’ Building Forever strategy is that it seeks to serve the people. “Our aim is to serve the countries where we discover our diamonds. We understand the significant challenges that exist economically and we’re conscious that by harnessing our efforts, integrating programmes, multiplying through partnerships and focusing on self-sustainability, we will be able to grow large-scale, high-impact programmes that in themselves become self-sufficient and leverage each other to grow more aspects of self-sufficiency to benefit communities,” he concludes.