Lonrho, the pan-African conglomerate listed in London, has secured leasehold rights to 25,000 hectares of rice paddies in Angola and is negotiating two bigger land deals in Mali and Malawi, in another sign of investor appetite for African land.

The Federal Government, yesterday, in Abuja, signed a $16 billion development cooperation agreement which covers real estate, agriculture, power, oil and gas, with the Dubai World Corporation in the United Arab Emirates.

To lure investment dollars, the Sudan government has removed import duties on agricultural equipment being imported into the country.

The Lands ministry has denied any knowledge of an arrangement between Kenya and Qatar to lease 40,000 hectares of its prime farm land to the Arabian country to grow food while over 10 million households face starvation.

Senator Waqar said that a new investment policy for the next 10 years is on cards which would be prepared with the consultation of private sector.

Arab agricultural ministers decided to urge government-owned and private companies, as well as Arab financiers and industrialists, to invest in common agricultural projects in qualified countries. The future belongs to those who produce their own food.

Pour couper courts aux rumeurs concernant l’octroi à titre gracieux des terrains de 1,3 million hectares à la société sud coréenne Daewoo Logistics, le ministre de la Réforme foncière, des Domaines et de l’Aménagement du territoire Marius Ratolojanahary a apporté sa version des faits. « Ce projet est encore en phase d’étude », a-t-il déclaré à la presse.

Après les manifs qui se sont déroulés devant l’Ambassade de Madagascar à Paris, vient le tour de l’opposition locale de manifester contre cette affaire.

Questionné sur l’affaire Daewoo, le ministre du MRFAT (Ministère de la Réforme Foncière et de l’Aménagement du Territoire), a donné des éclaircissements sur le fait que cette société n’est pas encore propriétaire du terrain soi-disant déjà acquis et publié dans des journaux étrangers.

Sudan seeks to focus on Arab food security during the Arab Economic Summit, which will kick off on Monday, said Finance and National Economy Minister Awadh Al-Jazz. "We have extensive land plots, and great water and animal resources."

"The only protection against international land-grabbing that we can see for the Philippines is the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill, a bill written by us peasants to protect our right to land and to achieve food security for our country"

« Je réaffirme que ce projet est toujours au stade de prospection, » soutient le ministre de la Réforme foncière et de l’aménagement du territoire, Marius Ratolojanahary.