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Business Reporter
Zimbabwe has approved 92 farms protected under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPA) for compensation, a significant achievement for the country’s arrears clearance and debt resolution strategy.
In May this year, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion invited nationals from countries that signed BIPPAs with Zimbabwe whose farms were acquired under the country’s Land Reform Programme, which began at the turn of the millennium, and prove their nationalities.
BIPPAs are international treaties between two countries designed to protect the investments of their respective citizens in each other’s territories.
To qualify for compensation, applicants were required to provide documentary evidence, including their national identities, to prove that they were citizens of a country with a BIPPA with Zimbabwe that was ratified before 2000.
Those who had instituted legal proceedings against the Government or who had arbitral orders were ineligible, as their cases were being resolved through separate arrangements.
Following briefings from the Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), who is also co-chair of the Land Tenure Reforms Sector Working Groups on Zimbabwe’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process, Mr Willard Manungo, and chief director in the OPC, Mrs Anna Tinarwo, during an SWGs meeting this week, it emerged that some major milestones had been achieved in the compensation for farms protected by BIPPAs.
“As for the resolution of BIPPAs, 92 farms have been approved for payment,” said the Government in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The BIPPA farmers will be compensated for land and improvements on the farms. Only farmers from countries that had signed and ratified BIPPAs by the time of the Land Reform Programme in 2000, are eligible for payment.”
These countries include Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Yugoslavia. The OPC co-chairs the Land Tenure Reforms SWG with Switzerland, and the United Nations Development Programme.
The Treasury allocated US$20 million for the compensation of BIPPA farmers in the 2024 National Budget.
In 2023, a ZANU PF policy document revealed that out of 153 farmers protected by BIPPAs and treaties between Zimbabwe and other nations to protect the investments of their citizens, 116 had their farms acquired under the land reform programme.
The payment of compensation to former farm owners is a key component of Zimbabwe’s debt clearance strategy, which is being spearheaded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In December 2022, the Government established a Structured Dialogue Platform with all creditors and development partners, to institutionalise structured dialogue on economic and governance reforms to underpin the Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution process.
The process is being championed by the African Development Bank president Dr Adesina and supported by the high-level facilitator, former President of Mozambique Joachim Chissano.
Online Reporter