South Korea's Daewoo Logistics have taken a 99-year lease of 1.3m hectares of Mozambique's arable land for free - effectively,half of the African island nation's arable land.

There are 2 major problems with this deal; there is no down payment by Daewoo for the land and almost all of its produce is meant for immediate exportation to South Korea. Mozambique is currently undergoing food shortages.

However, there are potential export earnings to be made,coupled with the employment opportunities, though,a lot of workers will be imported from South Africa

Daewoo Logistics of South Korea said it expected to pay nothing to farm maize and palm oil in an area of Madagascar half the size of Belgium, increasing concerns about the largest farmland investment of this kind.

The Indian Ocean island will simply gain employment opportunities from Daewoo’s 99-year lease of 1.3m hectares, officials at the company said. They emphasised that the aim of the investment was to boost Seoul’s food security.

“We want to plant corn there to ensure our food security. Food can be a weapon in this world,” said Hong Jong-wan, a manager at Daewoo. “We can either export the harvests to other countries or ship them back to Korea in case of a food crisis.”

Daewoo said it had agreed with Madagascar’s government that it could cultivate 1.3m hectares of farmland for free when it signed a memorandum of understanding in May. When the company signed the contract in July, it agreed to discuss costs with Madagascar. But Daewoo now believes it will have to pay nothing.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e894c6a-b65c-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html

Prime example of stupid Africans Im sorry.

Exploitation;
Slavery;
Rape of a virgin land;
Violation of indigenous rights of nature;
Collateral asset at the expense of Sovereingty;
A gateway to human rights abuse;
Massive shift to ecological balance;
Beginning/ Escalation of political corruption.

The discussions that led to this agreement didn't just start yesterday, there is more to the story than meets the eye.  There is a catch to that 99yr term.   Why 99 and not 100?  What difference does an extra 12month make in a 99yr partnership - there is something hidden in that number.  Can you provide more scope?  This ties in with that thread on industrializing Africa.

T, on point! We need to get it together.

hasn't the US had similar land-lease agreements. the firestone company did a similar thing in liberia too. obviously not on this scale. Mozambique is pretty stupid to allow itself to be raped that easily.

Madagascar, not Mozambique.

I think it's a good move by Madagascar. They are a wild country, largely uninhabited. They need someone to come and clear the jungle for them.    .  They should gain infrastructure, jobs, export tarrifs and farming expertise from the deal. However, I would have to look at the contract to determine. It should be tied to some agreement for infrastructure building and training. However, they should have limited the lease to 30 years, not 99. 30 years is all the country needs to gain the expertise they need to do the job themselves.

The scramble for Africa Part II.