Few predicted the seismic election upset that made Duma Boko President of Botswana. Last October, the 55-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer ousted the party that had ruled the nation of 2.5 million people since its independence from Britain nearly 60 years ago.
But in hindsight, the outcome seems almost inevitable. In a democratic, stable country with vast diamond reserves and the world’s largest population of elephants, voters were increasingly frustrated over political corruption, and the huge influence of multinational giant De Beers, whose diamond trading accounts for more than 80% of Botswana’s foreign exports. World diamond prices have been plummeting, as lower-cost lab-grown stones flooded the market.
Despite his impressive victory at the polls, Boko has no easy way to reverse the decline and fulfill his campaign promises, which include doubling the minimum wage, expanding social benefits for new mothers and seniors, and creating thousands of new jobs. He says he is eyeing cannabis and solar-power industries as two paths to better times. Whatever the recourse, he told the country bluntly: “We can no longer afford to depend on a single commodity.”
Even in Botswana, diamonds might not be forever.
Walt is a TIME correspondent in Paris