OVER 400 former farm owners have been cleared for compensation under the Global Compensation Deed for improvements they made on the farms they previously owned, it has been revealed.
In its 2024 National Budget, the government allocated US$35 million to compensate former farm owners, who are part of the Global Compensation Deed that was signed in 2020.
Under the deal, government agreed to pay US$3,5 billion compensation to former farm owners for improvements made on the farms.
In May, 1 300 former farm owners under the deal were revealed to have agreed to receive 1% of the US$35 million principal amount to be paid to them by year-end.
The agreement included the issuance of US dollar-denominated Treasury bonds with maturities ranging from two to 10 years, with a coupon rate of 2%.
It was revealed on Monday during a meeting for sector working group co-chairpersons of the Structured Dialogue Platform on arrears clearance and debt resolution process held in Harare that 444 had been cleared for payment. The former farm owners lost theirland during the fasttrack reform programme which the government implemented to “redress colonial imbalances”.
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In a statement yesterday, the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion ministry said 92 farmers had been cleared for payment under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs).
“Regarding the compensation of former farm owners, so far, 444 farms have been cleared for payment. The former farm owners will be paid for improvements. As for the resolution of BIPPAs, 92 farms have been approved for payment. The government set aside US$20 million for compensation of BIPPA farmers in the 2024 budget,” the ministry said.
“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.”
On behalf of the co-chair of land tenure reforms sector working group, the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) deputy chief secretary, Willard Manungo, the chief director in the OPC, Anna Tinarwo, highlighted ongoing efforts to make the 99-year lease bankable and tradable.
“Stakeholders recently embarked on a study visit to Tanzania to learn from the country’s experience with the bankability and transferability of its land lease documents,” the ministry said.
The OPC co-chairs the land tenure reforms sector working group with Switzerland and the United Nations Development Programme.
Land tenure reforms are also part of the National Development Strategy 1 thematic working group on Image Building, Engagement and Re-Engagement process for the country.
“Development partners, represented by European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchman, Switzerland’s ambassador Stephanie Rey, UNDP resident representative Ayodele Odusola and World Bank senior country economist Victor Steenbergen, acknowledged the milestones achieved by the government under the three pillars guiding the debt resolution process,” the ministry said.
“They offered their support to Zimbabwe and stressed the importance of maintaining dialogue and strengthening the macroeconomic framework, particularly in implementing the SMP [Staff-Monitored Programme], accelerating the implementation of the agreed reforms and continuing collaborative efforts to ensure the success of the debt process.”
The ministry reported that the private sector, represented by Tinashe Masiiwa of the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, stated that the country was moving in the right direction on the bankability and transferability of the 99-year lease.
Masiiwa also emphasised the importance of enacting policies that instilled confidence in the private sector.
“Zimbabwe’s total public debt is estimated at US$21 billion, as at June 2024. External debt is at US$12,3 billion, while domestic debt amounts to US$8,7 billion. External debt is owed to bilateral and multilateral creditors, with the latter accounting for US$3,1 billion,” the ministry said.
“Out of this multilateral debt, US$681 million is owed to the African Development Bank, US$1,5 billion to the World Bank, and US$427 million to the European Investment Bank.”
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.