🎬It's 'high' time

CURRENCIES

ECONOMY
Diamonds are aren’t forever

In August, President Duma Boko during one of his campaign rallies promised to return Botswana to the limelight. Well, now we know there will be a lot of lighting of joints at least. During his maiden address to the nation last week, he announced Botswana would be betting on industrial hemp in an attempt to diversify its economy from diamonds.

An overreliance on diamonds

Among the wealthiest countries in Africa, Botswana had an incredible stroke of luck in 1967, just a year after its independence when diamond mining giant De Beers discovered diamond deposits in the country. Since then it has become the largest diamond exporter in the world by value, and the second largest by volume.

According to Boko, the plan is “to move away from a reliance on diamonds as the single commodity for foreign income”. Botswana earns about 80% of its foreign exchange from diamond sales, but revenue has plunged more than 60% due to competition from lab-grown diamonds.

It’s “high” time. A Harvard Law graduate himself, Boko will attempt to replicate his varsity culture nights the US’ fledgling policies on legalizing cannabis.

• For one, Botswana receives more than 3,200 hours of sunlight annually and averages 21 megajoules per square meter, a critical condition for growing cannabis industrially.

• Botswana will join a growing list of African countries including South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia which have all legalized cannabis.

Denni DeBeer, who has been appointed to oversee the country’s hemp production, has already committed to creating 100,000 jobs through the industry.

It’s not just hemp. Aside harnessing solar energy, Boko has revealed plans to convert the country into a digital hub following touted structural investments from Starlink. -CCS.

DIGITS
They predicted Bitcoin’s future, but not theirs

$11B+: How much Ilya Lichtenstein and crypto-rapper Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan’s stolen bitcoin would be worth today, following its current moonshot, per The Verge. Lichtenstein hacked crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, stole 120k bitcoin — worth ~$70m at the time of the theft and $4.5B+ by their arrest in 2022 — and Morgan helped him launder it.

This is relevant because:

• Lichtenstein and Morgan were recently sentenced to five years and 18 months in prison, respectively.

• Netflix dropped a trailer for Biggest Heist Ever, a forthcoming documentary that details the couple’s crimes.

• A 2019 MacBook used by IRS criminal investigator Chris Janczewski when he worked the case will appear in the Smithsonian Museum’s “The Value of Money” gallery.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

NEWS
Round the continent

• The UK has frozen the assets of and imposed a travel ban on daughter of former Angolan president, Isabel Dos Santos following reports of her embezzling $440 million while in office.

• A blackmail trial is set to begin for six accused in Paul Pogba's blackmail case. Among the accused is his brother, Mathias Pogba.

• Ghana’s central bank is expected to announce its benchmark interest rate decision following a meeting of its monetary policy committee.

• Adani’s Energy Solutions firm has reported no material impact from Kenya’s energy deal cancellation last week.