Congo

Jagjit Singh Hara, a farmer in Jalandhar, has been getting offers from Congo, Namibia and Nigeria to take land on lease and start cultivation.

The Congo ventures are not core businesses to be based in the Congo but instead, extensions of businesses located in South Africa

Accaparement des terres - cas du Congo-Brazzaville - par AGTER

The much-discussed Congo land-lease, granting 200,000 hectares to South African farmers with a further 10 million hectares in the balance, appears to mark a departure from the usual terms underpinning foreign acquisition of fertile land by multinationals

Foreign investment in African agriculture means the creation of jobs, the introduction of modern knowledge and technology, and desperately needed additions to countries' tax bases, writes DW's Ludger Schadomsky.

ENI plans to develop 70,000 ha of palm oil in Congo

Sime Darby Bhd, which owns 220,000ha of oil palm estates in Liberia, plans to strengthen its presence on the African continent and is eyeing more land in Cameroon, Congo and South Africa. The expansion is part of a long-term strategy to double planted areas to one million hectares and be nearer to the growing markets of Europe and the US.

De Jager is most excited about an impending Agri SA fact-finding mission to Libya at the invitation of President Muammar Gaddafi. "If we succeed there, we can succeed anywhere in Africa."

The Congolese government said it had signed similar agreements with China, Brazil and Israel.

El ministro de agricultura congoleño, Rigobert Maboundou, dijo que este acuerdo forma parte de un Plan de Acción de su Gobierno para consolidar la agricultura como un pilar de su economía y que, además de este pacto, el mayor de este tipo firmado en África, tienen otros similares con China, Brasil e Israel.

There has been criticism of the deal in France, pointing out that Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Congolese president, is widely considered to be severely corrupt. But de Jager believes such attacks are motivated by a desire to protect French [farm export] interests against competition.

Peter Ndoro spoke to Dr Yao Graham, coordinator of Third World Network-Africa, a development agency, asking whether these deals really transfer technical expertise to locals.