How Botswana Turned Diamonds Into Growth

Episode 15  ·  How diamond income became roads, schools and clinics — and what a stone alone could never do  ·  all sources

This film follows a diamond's value from the ground to a public budget, then to a clinic and a classroom. It looks at how Botswana's partnership with a mining company, its public budget and its savings helped turn mineral income into public services after independence in 1966, why a valuable mine can still employ only a small share of a country's people, and what it takes to build other sources of work and income.

This is a fully animated film. Every visual was drawn for ColdProvenance; no footage, photographs or recordings are used. Narration is a synthesized voice. The music and sound effects were created for this film. The clinic, the school, the technician, the tailor's workshop and the families shown are illustrations, not real people or places, and the agreements, budgets and numbers drawn on screen are explanatory examples, not records of real contracts or accounts.

Sources

• The discovery of diamonds at Orapa in 1967 and the history of the Debswana partnership between the Government of Botswana and De Beers: Debswana — Our history
• Botswana's dependence on mining, the conversion of mineral income into public investment and services, persistent unemployment and inequality, and the need to diversify the economy: World Bank (2023) — Botswana Systematic Country Diagnostic update
• Mineral rents, public investment, the capital-intensive nature of diamond mining and the Pula Fund: World Bank (2022) — Botswana diamond wealth analysis
• Managing volatile and exhaustible diamond revenue through saving and careful spending: Bank of Botswana — Research Bulletin 2022
• Independence in 1966 and the current picture of growth, unemployment and inequality: World Bank — Botswana overview

Visuals

• All animation, characters, objects and diagrams were created by ColdProvenance for this film. No footage or photographs appear in this film.
• The two contract examples, the allowance story, the table on one leg and every coin, chart and scorecard are explanatory drawings, not measured data. Vehicles, buildings and animals are drawn at typical real-world sizes next to people.
• Coastlines and borders: Natural Earth Public domain.

Audio

• Narration: synthesized voice.
• Music, ambience and sound effects: created for this film. No stock music, sound libraries or field recordings are used.