In a village outside Botswana’s capital, Keorapetse Koko sat on an aging couch in her sparsely furnished home, stunned that a career — and an entire nation’s economy — built on diamonds had fallen so far, so fast.

For 17 years, she had earned a living cutting and polishing the gems that helped transform Botswana from one of the world’s poorest nations into one of Africa’s success stories. Diamonds were discovered in 1967, a year after independence, an abrupt change of fortune for the landlocked country.

Botswana became the world’s top diamond producer by value, and second-largest by volume after Russia. Diamonds are woven into the national identity, with local Olympic champion runner Letsile Tebogo heading a De Beers campaign celebrating how the industry funds schools and stadiums.

The

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