Egypt

GRAIN looks behind the current scramble for land in Africa to reveal a global struggle for what is increasingly seen as a commodity more precious than gold or oil - water.

Egypt’s Citadel Capital has been busy defending its work in Africa, such as in South Sudan where it has taken a number of measures to ensure its agribusiness project benefits the local community and doesn’t step on small farmer toes.

To date, Citadel Capital has invested US$ 25 million in the Concord farm project, which makes us by far one of the largest investors in South Sudan outside the oil industry.

The bottom line is that it is the responsibility of the host governments to set policies and a legal framework that protect their citizens’ interests – by encouraging investment, and protecting the rights of affected individuals.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the US government’s development finance institution, approved Wednesday a $150 mln financial package that will go to Citadel Capital, a regional private equity firm that just completed its first wheat harvest in Sudan.

The private-equity firm has a 250,000-acre (101,181-hectare) farm in southern Sudan and a similar-sized area of land in the north.

La escasez y el encarecimiento de los alimentos en el norte de África y en Oriente Próximo están agravando el hambre en el África subsahariana, donde han desembarcado los países árabes más ricos comprando tierras, a bajo precio, con el objetivo de cultivar lo necesario para dar de comer a sus propias poblaciones.

Beltone Private Equity and Kenana Sugar Company have signed an agreement to create the MAHASEEL Agriculture Investment Fund, aiming to deploy up to $1 billion in large-scale agriculture projects in Sudan and Egypt.

In recent months, farmers have staged sporadic demonstrations against what they consider an unacceptable offer by the government to buy their land. Some have degenerated into violent confrontations with the police.

Wafra, Citadel Capital’s Platform Company for investments in the Sudanese agricultural industry, released today details of recent operational milestones including the conclusion of its first commercial wheat harvest in Sudan’s White Nile State.

The escalation of violence around the north-south border in the run-up to Sudan’s big divide has sparked fears of a new civil war, but experts contend that the issue is more about land and water rather than oil.

“We have opened a new page with the Egyptian government,” Alwaleed said at a news conference with Egyptian PM Essam Sharaf. “We call on Arab and international investors to return to Egypt as soon as possible.”