Marejeo: Wawekezaji wa Kisaudia Wamendea Ardhi ya Tanzania

Riyadh,Saudia,April 16

Wafanyabiashara wa Saudi Arabia wameiomba Tanzania kama wanaweza kukodi hekta nusu milioni (500,000) za ardhi inayofaa kwa kilimo hususan cha mpunga na ngano kama sehemu ya mpango wa kujitosheleza kwa chakula kwa falme hiyo ya jangwani.

Maofisa waandamizi wa chemba ya biashara ya jiji la Riyadh walitoa ombi hilo wakati wa ziara ya Rais Jakaya Kikwete katika falme hiyo.

"Tanzania ipo tayari kufanya biashara nanyi.Kuna heka milioni 100 (hekta milioni 40.5)za ardhi nzuri yenye rutuba",Kikwete aliwaambia wafanyabiashara hao.

Samir Ali Kabbani,mkuu wa kamati ya kilimo ya chemba hiyo alisema kwamba wamepata majibu mazuri sana."Kikwete ametuambia kwamba Tanzania inaweza kutukodisha ploti ambazo kila moja ina ukubwa wa hadi hekta 10,000 kwa kipindi cha miaka 99",Kabbani alilieleza Shirika la Habari la Reuters baada ya mkutano huo na Kikwete.

Maofisa na wafanyabiashara wa Kisaudi walitrajiwa kuitembelea Tanzania wiki chache baada ya mkutano huo.

"Wanaweza kukodi ardhi kutoka serikalini",January Makamba,msaidizi wa Rais Kikwete,aliieleza Reuters."Lakini inabidi tuhakikishe kuwa hatuishii kwenye hali kama ile ya Nigeria:hifadhi kubwa ya mafuta lakini foleni kubwa kwenye vituo vya kuuzia mafuta",alisema Makamba.

Maafisa wa Saudia wanaiona Tanzania kama sehemu mwafaka kutokana na mazingira ya kijiografia,kisiasa na wingi wa maji na ardhi ya kilimo.Makampuni kadhaa ya nchi hiyo tayari yameanza kuwekeza katika miradi ya kilimo huko Indonesia na Ethiopia.

Agosti mwaka jana Indonesia ilisema kuwa mjumuiko wa makampuni ya Bin Ladin ya Saudi Arabia unatarajia kuwekeza dola bilioni 4.3 katika hekta 500,000 za kilimo cha mpunga.Mahitaji ya ngano kwa Saudia kwa mwaka yanakadiriwa kufikia tani milioni 2.5,na mwaka juzi nchi hiyo iliagiza kutoka nje karibu tani milioni 1 za mchele,kwa mujibu wa Idara ya Kilimo ya Marekani.

CHANZO: Reuters

Read More

SAUDI INVESTORS EYEING LEASING TZ FARMLAND

Riyadh, April 16 - Saudi investors have asked Tanzania if they can lease 500,000 hectares of farmland mainly for rice and wheat farming as part of a plan to secure food supplies for the desert kingdom, officials said.

Senior officials from the Saudi capital's chamber of commerce made the request on the sidelines of a meeting with visiting Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

"Tanzania is ready to do business with you ... There is 100 million acres (40.5 million hectares) of good arable land," Kikwete told Saudi businessmen.

Samir Ali Kabbani, head of the chamber's agriculture committee, said: "We had very positive feedback."

"He (Kikwete) told us that Tanzanian authorities can lease us plots each of which covers up to 10,000 hectares for a 99-year period," he told Reuters after the meeting.

The Saudi government has joined private operators to invest in farm projects abroad after a long and costly food sufficiency plan threatened to deplete the desert kingdom's water supplies.

Saudi businessmen and officials will visit Tanzania in the next few weeks.

"They can lease the land from the government," January Makamba, an aide to President Kikwete, told Reuters.

"But we have to make sure we don't end up in a situation similar to that of Nigeria: Huge oil reserves but long queues in front of petrol stations," Makamba said.

Saudi officials are particularly interested in Tanzania because of its geographic proximity, political stability and the availability of water resources and farmland.

Several Saudi firms have already started investing in agricultural projects from Indonesia to Ethiopia.

Indonesia said in August that Saudi BinLadin Group would invest $4.3 billion on 500,000 hectares for rice farming.

Saudi Arabia's annual wheat needs are estimated at about 2.5 million tonnes and it imported a little over 1 million tonnes of rice in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

SOURCE: Reuters

"TANZANIAN AUTHORITIES CAN LEASE THE SAUDIS PLOTS EACH OF WHICH COVERS UP TO 10K HECTARES FOR A 99-YEAR PERIOD!?"

DID I QUOTE THAT RIGHT? YES I DID.

CALL ME ONE OF THE DOUBTING THOMASES BUT IF THIS STORY IS TRUE,THEN PERHAPS THE LIKE OF CHIEF MANGUNGO WERE NOT SO DUMB WHEN THEY WERE DUPPED INTO SIGNING SOME CRAZY LAND CONTACT WITH KARL PETERS&co..AT LEAST THE CHIEFS COULD HAVE AN EXCUSE...IT'S DURING THE "DARK AGES" AND THE FORE-RUNNERS OF COLONIALISM TOOK OF ADVANTAGE OF THE CHIEFS' ILLITERACY AND LACK OF SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE IN GOVARNANCE OF THEIR PEOPLE AND PROPERTY.

BY THE WAY,INSTEAD OF BEGGING THE SAUDIS,WHY SHOULDNT THE PRIORITY BE IN EMPOWERING THE LOCAL FARMERS IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE ECONOMY DEPENDES HEAVILY ON AGRICULTURE THAT ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN 40% OF GDP?

Read More