Zimbabwe returning 67 European-owned farms covered by investment treaties

‌Zimbabwe ​will return 67 farms seized from foreigners from four European countries covered by bilateral investment pacts, the country's agriculture minister said, as it seeks to mend ties ‌with Western countries while it battles for debt relief.

The southern African country started seizing white-owned farms under its late leader Robert Mugabe in 2000, in a move the government said at the time was meant to resettle landless ‌Black people and redress colonial-era land ownership imbalances. The seizures wrecked commercial agriculture, precipitated a currency collapse in 2008 ‌and left Zimbabwe struggling to feed itself.

Mugabe's successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sought to improve ties with Western governments, which imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe over the land seizures and allegations of broader human rights abuses. The land restitution drive is part of its efforts to secure debt relief, ⁠having ​been shut out of the ⁠global financial system for more than two decades after defaulting on debt owed to international lenders.

Its foreign debt stood at $13.6 billion in ⁠September 2025, with $7.7 billion of that in arrears. International lenders have demanded reforms, including resolving land-related disputes as conditions for debt relief. Agriculture ​minister Anxious Masuka told lawmakers on Wednesday that the government would give the 67 farms back to nationals ⁠from Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands as they were covered by the bilateral investment protection agreements.

"We are in the process of returning ⁠those ​to them," Masuka said in response to a question by a lawmaker. The European countries are part of the group of Western countries discussing debt relief with Zimbabwe and are also significant donors to the country.

The International ⁠Monetary Fund approved a 10-month staff monitored programme for Zimbabwe, as the country seeks to build a track record ⁠of economic reforms. The ⁠programme does not entail funding. Mnangagwa, a long-time ally of Mugabe who replaced his mentor in a 2017 coup, agreed a $3.5 billion compensation deal with about 4,000 white farmers in ‌2020, but his ‌cash-strapped government has struggled to make significant payments.

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