Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Land as a commodity | Africa (New Economy)


African land becomes top commodity

International attention has turned to the oldest continent for new wealth

Africa
The sale of land in Africa to international buyers is increasing at an alarming rate, in fact two thirds of the world’s land deals in the last decade involved territory in the continent.
Over recent years, the trend towards economic globalisation has facilitated the peddling of African territories on a massive scale. Sales have been fueled by the economic liberation of individual countries in Africa, widespread government corruption and the growing ambition of nations from other continents to expand their investment horizons.
African countries that have sold a significant proportion of their land include Liberia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar and South Sudan. Governments, rather than private landowners almost always sell land in Africa that is put on the international market. African governments that sell land are motivated by the obvious economic gains, along with the secondary desire to bring employment opportunities and infrastructural development to the regions in question.

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