Foreign Demand on Land in Africa: Some Thoughts on Decision-making in the Central African Sub-region

In line with colonial land grabs, there has been recent surge on land acquisition particularly in countries in Central Africa having suitable land available. While the form and substance of the large-scale land acquisitions vary across countries, rancorous debates have pondered whether this is an opportunity to develop Africa and ensure food security, or that the risks of large-scale land acquisition are very negative on local communities than the opportunities they bring. The goal of this paper is therefore to examine large-scale land investments in Africa particularly in countries within the Congo Basin Forest of the Central African sub-region. The trends, threats and opportunities are reviewed using information on land acquisitions in Central Africa collated from diverse published sources. The paper recommends some practical considerations for the sub-region to accommodate land acquisition.