Citadel's Karim Sadek dismisses talk of land grabbing as an “academic concern”, saying “there should definitely be a priority for the produce to be sold on the local market, if there is a paying market for it”.
The lack of systematic collection of data and categorising private and official investments from the Gulf has made it difficult to reach an accurate estimate of total investments, made so far.
Saudi-based National Agricultural Development Co (Nadec) said on Sunday it has completed procedures to obtain a 42,000-hectare farmland in Sudan.
"The People's Republic of China (PRC) is encouraging Chinese private enterprises to invest heavily in Sudan's agriculture sector, Lee "Ali" Wei Zheng, Commercial Officer for the Chinese Embassy, told PolEconOff February 3," reports the US Embassy in Khartoum
The worldwide financial crisis has reportedly stalled several agricultural deals between Gulf countries and overseas partners, including two between Bahrain and Pakistan.
A delegation of top Kenana Sugar officials is in Doha to hold talks with Qatar’s Hassad group to create one of the world’s biggest food producing companies with a view to ensuring food security in the Arab world.
Heightened land values have caused several Egyptian banks, private companies and government bodies to purchase agricultural land in Africa, in addition to focusing greater attention on Egypt’s land resources.
The government is working to attract local and foreign investors to finance the Jordanian agricultural mega-project in Sudan, said a senior official. "One international company has shown interest in taking part in the project so far," the minister told The Jordan Times
Both private and public sector investors from countries such as Qatar, Libya, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Arab world as well as China and Korea elsewhere now hold long term rights to a total of two million feddans of arable land in Sudan, according to figures from the country’s agriculture ministry.
Accaparement des terres - cas du Soudan - par AGTER
Foras International Investment Co., the investment arm of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has started to put its objective of realizing food security in the Islamic countries into action by launching its first project of the integrated agricultural food basket in Sudan.
“We are in big trouble with the government of Madagascar,” said Shin Dong-hyun, the general manager of planning and finance at Daewoo Logistics Corporation.
