Egypt

Egypt's Prime Minister received Sheikh Nasser bin Mohamed Al Hageri, the head of the Qatari Hassad Foodstuff Company who is currently visiting Egypt to explore agricultural investments.

An Egyptian model farm is to be created in Ethiopia on an area of some 500 feddans [210 ha] with the potential for expansion in the regional state of Afar some 600 kilometres north of Addis Ababa.

GRAIN looks behind the current scramble for land in Africa to reveal a global struggle for what is increasingly seen as a commodity more precious than gold or oil - water.

Egypt’s Citadel Capital has been busy defending its work in Africa, such as in South Sudan where it has taken a number of measures to ensure its agribusiness project benefits the local community and doesn’t step on small farmer toes.

To date, Citadel Capital has invested US$ 25 million in the Concord farm project, which makes us by far one of the largest investors in South Sudan outside the oil industry.

The bottom line is that it is the responsibility of the host governments to set policies and a legal framework that protect their citizens’ interests – by encouraging investment, and protecting the rights of affected individuals.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the US government’s development finance institution, approved Wednesday a $150 mln financial package that will go to Citadel Capital, a regional private equity firm that just completed its first wheat harvest in Sudan.

The private-equity firm has a 250,000-acre (101,181-hectare) farm in southern Sudan and a similar-sized area of land in the north.

La escasez y el encarecimiento de los alimentos en el norte de África y en Oriente Próximo están agravando el hambre en el África subsahariana, donde han desembarcado los países árabes más ricos comprando tierras, a bajo precio, con el objetivo de cultivar lo necesario para dar de comer a sus propias poblaciones.

Beltone Private Equity and Kenana Sugar Company have signed an agreement to create the MAHASEEL Agriculture Investment Fund, aiming to deploy up to $1 billion in large-scale agriculture projects in Sudan and Egypt.

In recent months, farmers have staged sporadic demonstrations against what they consider an unacceptable offer by the government to buy their land. Some have degenerated into violent confrontations with the police.

Wafra, Citadel Capital’s Platform Company for investments in the Sudanese agricultural industry, released today details of recent operational milestones including the conclusion of its first commercial wheat harvest in Sudan’s White Nile State.