The Nevada US firm Farm Lands of Africa has, after two years, accelerated its development into an agricultural producer by buying a rice-to-eucalyptus group in the Republic of Guinea with a landbank of 220,000 hectares, an area nearly the size of Luxembourg.
Overview of the palm oil sector in West Africa - major players (Siva, SIAT, Sime Darby, SIFCA, Bolloré, Olam...), hectarage under foreign corporate control, etc.
Participants from various communities shared documented cases, stories and photos of how large-scale investments of local and foreign owned companies are displacing communities and how people oppose such type of investments.
Some of the major factors drawing companies from India to Africa in addition to the fertile land and natural resources are the exemption from taxes/duties, along with ample government assistance.
Many in India's eastern state of West Bengal worry the central government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in retail trade would incur loss of jobs even farmers' land.
India is among the top 10 nations to acquire land in both domestic and transnational deals, according to a report released this month by the Washington-based World Watch Institute
African nations like Zambia, Ethiopia and Mozambique invited Indian investors to invest in various sectors, especially in agriculture, saying this has the potential to provide food to both Africa and India.
The company has approached the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank to raise another $100 million for a sugarcane estate.
Trascurato il land grabbing nell'accordo di libero scambio
India's Mahakaushal Sugar and Power Industries has acquired 12,000 ha, and more efforts are being made to acquire an additional 15,000 ha, along Lower Rufiji River basin in Utunge Ward, Tanzania.
India’s Tata Group is interested to invest in east African farming in order to export agricultural products back to India, where it anticipates a local food supply shortage over the next decades.
En la última década, los países en desarrollo han dejado en manos extranjeras una superficie equivalente a media Unión Europea. África es un paraíso para estos inversores.
