Botswana was once a darling of investors on the African continent. Long loved for its placidity and its diamonds, the world’s largest producer of the gem is now on the map of resource-hungry Brics for another resource: coal.

India’s JSW Energy on Wednesday agreed to acquire Canadian mining company CIC Energy for US$414m (C$422 mn), adding Botswana – where CIC is developing a major coal field, as its second African coal asset. The 43 per cent premium JSW is prepared to pay, according to Wednesday’s proposed offer of C$7.42 per share, reveals how the growing appetite of Indian energy consumption is reaching far corners of the world.