Zimbabwe pays white farmers after 25 years of land seizures
Zimbabwe has started paying white farmers who lost their land more than two decades ago.
The first group of farmers received a payment of $3.1 million. These farmers are part of a larger group set to be paid a total of $3.5 billion under a deal made in 2020.
The farms were taken by the government of Robert Mugabe around the year 2000.
More than 4,000 farms were seized, mostly from white owners, in a land reform plan. The aim was to give land back to Black Zimbabweans, but many farms ended up in the hands of people close to the government.
The farm seizures had dire consequences on Zimbabwe’s economy. Food production dropped, exports fell, and the country went through extreme inflation, especially in 2008.
The move aims to fix the country’s debt problems and rejoin the international financial system.
Paying the farmers is one of the steps required before Zimbabwe can get any monetary help from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund after 20 years.
The rest of the money owed to this group of farmers will be paid in US-dollar bonds but the interest rate is just 2%, which is much lower than what other countries offer on similar bonds.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe is committed to making the payments.
“We are very serious about this,” he was quoted by The Guardian.
