\u201cI want to clarify these reports that we are giving Zimbabwe hundreds of millions in loans,\u201d Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi told reporters in Gabarone Friday, according to Reuters. \u201cThat is totally untrue. We are not giving them a single loan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Zimbabwean authorities have been requesting financing from Botswana for several years, Botswana has refused to provide it until Zimbabwe meets specific requirements, including becoming compliant with the Kimberley Process (KP), a Bank of Botswana spokesperson told\u00a0Rapaport News<\/em>\u00a0Thursday.<\/p>\n While Zimbabwe recently reopened its diamond sector to foreign investment \u2014 inviting companies such as Russian miner Alrosa and China\u2019s Anjin Investments to mine at its Marange fields, among other areas\u00a0\u2014 Botswana will not be participating. The country is concerned that any partnership with Zimbabwe would jeopardize its status in the KP, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI want to clarify these reports that we are giving Zimbabwe hundreds of millions in loans,\u201d Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi told reporters in Gabarone Friday, according to Reuters. \u201cThat is totally untrue. We are not giving them a single loan.\u201d Although the Zimbabwean authorities have been requesting financing from Botswana for several years, Botswana has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[405,111,149,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-4989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-policy","9":"tag-botswana","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-president","12":"tag-spokesperson"},"yoast_head":"\n