$3.5bn land compensation row crops up in Zimbabwe debt talks
Damaged properties at Mount Carmel Farm in Chegutu, a 1,200-hectare commercial farm, on September 10, 2019. The farm was destroyed during the Mugabe land reforms.
Global lenders have frozen Zimbabwe’s debt restructuring talks, citing the government’s failure to pay $3.5 billion in compensation owed to victims of historical land seizures.
The compensation deal, agreed in 2020, remains unsettled and has become a key condition for re-engagement. Creditors insist that Harare must resolve land reform grievances alongside economic and governance restructurings before talks can resume.
