No land to foreigners – AR

The dust around skewed land ownership in Namibia is refusing to settle, with the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement pushing government to pass a bill that would prohibit the sale of land to foreigners. The bill would further only allow foreigners to lease land in partnership with locals, who should hold no less than 51%.AR suggested that foreigners only lease land for commercial purposes and that such development - such as factories and industries - also be owned by Namibians, while no communal land or agricultural land should fall into foreign hands.During a public hearing with the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, the radical movement highlighted that local Namibians are tired of living in shacks and want access to the land that is rightfully theirs.ProblematicAccording to AR leader Job Amupanda, in Namibia, Americans own 82 000 hectares, South Africans 300 000 and Germans 340 000.“It is a problem, and others also from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Canada and China [own land in the country]. So even, Chinese - we are talking of foreigners, not Chinese who are living here, but Chinese in Beijing - own farms here. It is a problem,” he said.The latest World Bank report has confirmed that about 70% of Namibia’s commercial farmland, translating into 39.7 million hectares, remains in the hands of white Namibians, which fuels the country’s inequality burden.Amupanda pointed out that if prohibition is seen as a stretch too far, regulation can be the answer, but the last 32 years have shown that promises to make land access easier have yet to be honoured.“This is not going to be the first time in the world something like this will happen. In Thailand, they were saying in the 1950s foreigners could own land with some sort of treaty, but in 1970, they did away with that provision. They can give foreigners land for residential purposes but are very specific and they regulate these things,” he said.Amupanda highlighted the recent sale of the Erindi Game Farm to a Mexican investor, who has since died, as an example of the ways land ends up in the hands of foreigners while government turns a blind eye.jemima@namibiansun.com

No land to foreigners – AR

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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No land to foreigners – AR

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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