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HARARE – More than 1,300 former white commercial farmers have agreed to a revised compensation package with the Zimbabwean government, the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has announced.
The new agreement will compensate farmers for improvements to their lands that were seized by the government as part of a land reform program in the early 2000s. The deal marks an important step toward resolving a long-standing dispute over land compensation.
Initially, the government and two farmers’ unions – the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) and the Commercial Farmers Union of Southern Africa – reached an agreement, the Global Compensation Compact, in April 2021. The agreement provides for a total payment of $3.5 billion, with half of the amount to be paid in the first year and the rest in four instalments of $437.5 million each.
The agreement received the support of 95% of the 2,896 farmers who voted. However, the government has faced challenges in securing the necessary funds, delaying the fulfillment of its compensation promises.
A revised compensation plan was proposed after a referendum in June 2023, but was rejected by some farmers. Critics argued that the referendum did not accurately represent the views of all affected farmers, especially those overseas who were unable to participate in the referendum.
Minister Ncube’s latest update indicated that more than 1,300 former commercial farmers have signed the revised agreement and the administrative payment process is underway. Government has also initiated a verification process and invited applications through national newspapers for compensation related to farms protected under the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPPA) approved before the land reform program.
The land reform program, which began in the early 2000s to address colonial-era land imbalances and forced the purchase of farms from around 5,000 white farmers, was criticized by Western countries and led to various economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Under Zimbabwe’s constitution, both “indigenous” Zimbabweans and white farmers whose land was protected under BIPPA are due to be compensated. Paying these former landowners is a key component of Zimbabwe’s debt settlement strategy, which is supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The Government has established a Structured Dialogue Platform (SDP) to facilitate discussions with creditors and development partners on economic and governance reforms. The platform is an integral part of the arrears clearance and debt resolution process.
Minister Ncube reported on the progress of the SDP, highlighting the transfer of all Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe debts to the Ministry of Finance, and the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the Staff Monitored Programme (SMP), which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
To support vulnerable groups during the implementation of the social management program, the government is seeking to develop a “wet” social management program that focuses on priority areas such as social protection, education, health, agriculture, food security and climate change.
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