The southern African nation struck a deal in 2020 under a so-called Global Compensation Deed to reimburse the farmers for improvements they made to land that was seized by government-backed militants. The initial terms of the deal were never met and have since been revised several times. In April, the authorities unveiled a new payment plan that would see treasury bonds being issued to the farmers, an option most of them rejected.
A September 11 bill, proposed by Brian Mast, a Florida Republican congressman and chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, seeks to block US support for any new or expanded funding to Zimbabwe unless it commits to settling its arrears within 12 months of the financing being approved.
If passed, the legislation will also require the southern African nation to adjust the compensation for inflation and ensure it isn’t settled using Zimbabwe-issued securities.
Zimbabwe has been locked out of international capital markets since 1999 after it defaulted on debt from lenders including the World Bank, Paris Club and African Development Bank. It has appealed to 10 nations including China and France to consider providing bridge finance totalling $2.6 billion to help it repay multilateral lenders, but none have committed so far.
Relations between Washington and Harare have been frosty due to longstanding tensions over human-rights abuses, a lack of democratic reforms and unresolved disputes stemming from the land seizures, which led to US sanctions.