Lab-grown diamonds are cheaper, increasingly popular and rapidly reshaping the global jewellery market. For Botswana, whose development model was built on natural diamonds, this is more than an industry disruption—it is an economic shock forcing the country to confront what comes after diamonds.
Women now make up the majority of Botswana’s university graduates, yet that educational success has not translated into equal economic power or leadership representation. Somewhere between graduation and the boardroom, Botswana is losing much of the female talent it has successfully developed.
Botswana’s 2025 medicine shortage emptied pharmacy shelves and triggered a national health emergency. Behind the immediate crisis was a more troubling vulnerability: a healthcare system heavily exposed to falling diamond revenues, external funding decisions and procurement weaknesses that remain unresolved.