Zimbabwe has started paying white farmers who lost their land during the land reform program in the 2000s. This first payment is part of a promise to pay $3.5 billion in total. The government hopes this move will help fix its economy and improve relations with international lenders.
For the first time, the Zimbabwean government has started making payments to white former commercial farmers whose land was taken during the land reform program that began in the early 2000s. This marks a major step in trying to fix past economic problems and improve Zimbabwe’s image globally.
In the early 2000s, the government took land from about 4,000 white commercial farmers and gave it to Black Zimbabweans, most of them war veterans and rural citizens. While the goal was to fix land ownership imbalances from colonial times, the way it was done led to chaos. Farms were taken without paying the owners, food production dropped, and Zimbabwe’s economy went into crisis.
In 2020, the government signed a deal called the Global Compensation Deed. Under this deal, Zimbabwe promised to pay $3.5 billion to the affected white farmers, but until now, no real payments had been made.
This week, that changed.
The government made its first payment worth $100 million:
This is only a small part of the full $3.5 billion promised, but it is still an important step.
This payment is not just about the farmers. It’s also about:
Yes. Some people say:
But supporters say it’s a good start that shows the government wants to make things right.
Zimbabwe still has a long way to go. But this payment sends a message: the country is trying to move forward, fix its past mistakes, and open up to the world again.