Pakistan hopes to attract more than $10 billion of investment from oil-rich Arab Gulf countries this year to help develop the country's infrastructure, a senior government official said Saturday.
More important is for Africa to realise its own potential for food production, which would in the long-term negate the need for these deals.
THESE days, as we follow the struggle against the Taliban in the northwest, we can be forgiven for missing other important news. For instance, I had filed away a report on plans to lease large chunks of agricultural land in Punjab and Sindh to overseas investors in the back of my mind, planning to write about it later. When I ran a Google search on the subject, however, I realised the enormity of the scam.When I ran a Google search
Le débat tourne plutôt sur la question de la vente ou non des terres aux étrangers, et non aux riches nationaux... Et si les écologistes conservateurs multiplient lobbying et pressions pour faire capoter les contrats, il ne s'agit pas pour eux de défendre les intérêts des fermiers.
Agricultural investment in Sudan by Arab countries looking to guarantee supplies of staples such as wheat for their people will account for up to 50 percent of all investment in the country from 2010
“African countries have not been in a reasonable bargaining position,” AU Agriculture Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime told Reuters in an interview at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. “The pace of the trend was very fast and they didn’t envisage that there should be benefits to the community.”
On the eastern coast of Kenya, controversy erupts over plans to turn a biodiversity hotspot into farmland for Qatar.
Saudi officials I have spoken to seem to be aware of the minefields their schemes could ignite.
Some Gulf countries may now be realising the importance of offering direct loans to African countries as a means to increase Arab investment.
Not a day goes by without new acreage being signed over. "For Sale" ads for agricultural property are now featured in the international financial press. And there's no dearth of clients.
"Je crois que les tensions seront inévitables où que ce soit, faisant des enclaves agricoles étrangères de véritables forteresses assiégées."
African states have actively encouraged Gulf investors into areas like agriculture, seeing them as a useful counterweight to China’s influence.
