AgriSA

The Congo ventures are not core businesses to be based in the Congo but instead, extensions of businesses located in South Africa

The much-discussed Congo land-lease, granting 200,000 hectares to South African farmers with a further 10 million hectares in the balance, appears to mark a departure from the usual terms underpinning foreign acquisition of fertile land by multinationals

De Jager is worried about Libya’s record in enforcing contracts with foreign companies, and the lack of social support networks. “There’s a lot of money to be made for someone with balls,” he says.

The delegation hopes to conclude an agreement with the Libyan government that sets out commercial terms, including investment protection, tenure security and incentives.

De Jager is most excited about an impending Agri SA fact-finding mission to Libya at the invitation of President Muammar Gaddafi. "If we succeed there, we can succeed anywhere in Africa."

The Congolese government said it had signed similar agreements with China, Brazil and Israel.

El ministro de agricultura congoleño, Rigobert Maboundou, dijo que este acuerdo forma parte de un Plan de Acción de su Gobierno para consolidar la agricultura como un pilar de su economía y que, además de este pacto, el mayor de este tipo firmado en África, tienen otros similares con China, Brasil e Israel.

There has been criticism of the deal in France, pointing out that Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Congolese president, is widely considered to be severely corrupt. But de Jager believes such attacks are motivated by a desire to protect French [farm export] interests against competition.

Peter Ndoro spoke to Dr Yao Graham, coordinator of Third World Network-Africa, a development agency, asking whether these deals really transfer technical expertise to locals.

"The motivation for South African farmers is simple," said Theo de Jager, Agri SA's deputy president, who helped negotiate the deal. "One in four farms must be redistributed in the next four or five years. So for new entrants into the sector and for those farmers who want to expand there is nowhere to go."

Can these deals benefit Africa? Have you been affected by one of these land deals? Should countries be leasing fertile land to foreign investors? Join a live BBC debate on 21 October 2009.

South Africa has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo that will give SA farmers access to up to 10 million ha of farmland, the country's biggest farmers' union said on Tuesday.