Wikileaks: African leaders in Ethiopia land grab
11/03/2011
afrol News, 28 January - Several African leaders have bought lands in
Ethiopia to develop agricultural projects or tourism resorts. They are let
to bypass a 2007 ban on export of cereals, still in place for other
investors.
It has earlier been known that former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasansjo
and current Djiboutian President Ismael Omar Guelleh privately have bought
up large properties in Ethiopia. Also the Egyptian Prime Minister managed to
buy large agricultural land tracts in Ethiopia on behalf of his government.
However, <
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10ADDISABABA247.html> a US
Embassy cable from February last year, released by Wikileaks today,
indicates that several of these underreported deals operate in the grey zone
of Ethiopian legislation.
Following a food crisis in 2007, Ethiopia "temporarily" banned all exports
of cereals. The ban has never been formally lifted. Still, both the Egyptian
government project and Djiboutian President Guelleh have been allowed to
export cereals cultivated on the lands sold to them by the Ethiopian
government.
"It appears Saudi, Djiboutian, and now Egyptian investors have somehow
bypassed this ban," the US Embassy report from Addis Ababa said. Meanwhile
other investors had informed Embassy staff "that they have not been allowed
to export cereal grains."
President Guelleh recently acquired the right to develop about 2.5 acres of
lakeside land in Debrezeit to build a hotel. This acquisition added to the
7,400 acres of farmland Mr Guelleh leased in 2009 in Bale, Oromia region.
"According to post's conversations with local agricultural business
investors and press reports, this farm has already harvested wheat and other
cereals for export to Djibouti," the report said.
The Egyptians had followed the same path, according to the official US
source. Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, heading a large top-end
delegation, last year announced that the state-owned National Bank of Egypt
planned to invest US$ 40 million in the lease of 49,400 acres of land in the
Afar region to grow cereals. Also these cereals "would be exported to
Egypt," it was noted.
The US diplomat also noted that the Egyptian National Bank also was "poised
to open an office in Ethiopia" and to offer credits to six Ethiopian banks.
But, the domestic banking sector is closed to foreign banks. "It is unclear
how the National Bank of Egypt could offer credit in Ethiopia in evident
violation of banking and financial regulations," the US Ambassador notes.
Other recent major investors in Ethiopian agricultural land had included the
South African private equity fund Agri-Vie. The company had acquired 3,000
acres of land and company was last year already in the process of
establishing fruit production and processing operations. The company was to
target the juice markets in Europe and the Middle East.
Among the most prominent investors in Ethiopian lands was Nigerian
ex-President Obasanjo, whose actions were keenly followed by US Embassy
staff, the report reveals. Mr Obasanjo had "recently leased about five acres
of land near Debrezeit, Oromia region (about 50 kilometres east of Addis
Ababa) to develop a hotel and tourist destination," the report said.
The US Ambassador also discussed the criticism against the land grab in
Ethiopia, with several claiming it would further jeopardise the critical
food security situation in the country. He however agrees with Ethiopian
authorities that a commercialisation of the agricultural sector and foreign
investment were necessary.
Nevertheless, he commented that Ethiopia's new land lease policy was "a long
way from proving its worth as a vehicle" for the national economy. It was
not "generating foreign exchange reserves" at a larger level, indicating the
prices achieved in the deals brokered by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi himself
were too low.
By staff writer
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Received on Sun Mar 11 2012 - 21:50:48 EDT
