Saudi Arabia

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.

LA ONU ha presentado un estudio en el que informa sobre la masiva compra de tierras que países poderosos, e incluso multinacionales, están llevando a cabo en África.

The chairman of Golden Gras says the solution to problems around buying farmland abroad for Saudi food production is 60:40 partnerships.

Saudi-based National Agricultural Development Co (Nadec) said on Sunday it has completed procedures to obtain a 42,000-hectare farmland in Sudan.

As many foreign and local investor are seeking to win a license to invest in the giant agriculture project in Papua, Indonesia, one unnamed South Korean investor has obtained a permit. Mitsubishi is also bidding. Binladin Group has been rejected.

Yemen, grappling with poverty and a resurgent al Qaeda, is in talks with Saudi firms interested in acquiring farms or investing in fishery and livestock production with a first deal eyed by June.

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 urgency among Gulf states to pursue farmland acquisitions has diminished as food prices have gone down and controversy has gone up. Still, Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead with its plans.

US government mission in Riyadh writes, "Although the idea of Saudi farms in Africa may sound farfetched, the Kingdom has for years hired foreign managers and laborers to administer its farms and other agribusinesses (e.g., most Saudi wheat farms currently have Egyptian managers)."

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.

The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors said that Saudi businesspeople were keen to invest in Turkey, particularly in agriculture. “The Kingdom has a huge program involving billions of riyals for agricultural investment in countries with fertile soil and plentiful water.”

Accaparement des terres - cas du Soudan - par AGTER