The Zimbabwean government has commenced payments to former commercial farmers whose land was compulsorily acquired under the country’s controversial land reform programme in the early 2000s.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced late Tuesday that compensation has begun for 94 farms that were protected under Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) at the time of their seizure.
“I am pleased to announce that the compensation process has begun,” Ncube told reporters at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting in Harare on Tuesday night.
The government has pledged to pay a total of US$146 million, with US$20 million allocated for disbursement this year while the remaining amount will be paid over the next four years.
“We believe that this process is crucial for building trust, honouring our commitments, and ensuring consistency with our Constitution as we address Zimbabwe’s debt challenge.”
The payments, which started in the second week of January 2025, are part of Zimbabwe’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process, a key initiative aimed at restoring investor confidence and improving the country’s economic standing.
Only former farm owners from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and former Yugoslavia – countries that had BIPPAs signed and ratified before the land reform programme – are eligible for this phase of compensation.
Payments are being transferred directly to the claimants’ bank accounts.
Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, launched in 2000, was aimed at redistributing white-owned commercial farms to landless black Zimbabweans.
The government argued that the move was necessary to correct historical land imbalances dating back to the colonial era.
However, the programme was widely criticised for its chaotic implementation, which led to economic collapse, international sanctions and food shortages.
The government later pledged to compensate dispossessed farmers for developments made on the land such as infrastructure and improvements but not for the land itself, which the state claimed was originally expropriated through colonial dispossession.
While this initial phase focuses on BIPPA-protected farms, the Zimbabwean government has previously committed to compensating all dispossessed farmers although funding constraints have slowed progress.
In 2020, authorities signed a US$3.5 billion compensation agreement with the Commercial Farmers Union but payments have faced delays due to financial challenges.
