Charles Davy, along with the other owners of the Bubye Conservancy in
Matabeleland South province, has accepted an investment in the
720,000-acre property by a consortium led by Dubai World, the sovereign
investment company of the Arab emirate.
No other white landowner in Zimbabwe is known to have managed to raise such investment for years.
Among locals in the area, about 40 miles north of the South African
border, it is said that around 10 million was paid for the stake in
Bubye, which teems with game and luxury lodges and remains a favourite
haunt of American big game hunters, who can shoot buffalo, leopard,
lion, elephant, giraffe and rhino.
Mr Davy, who is in his sixties, has remained on the conservancy to
manage its camps. He is listed as a director of at least one safari
firm operating there, Mazunga Safaris, which bills the land as "a
hunter’s paradise".
He is one of only a few hundred white landowners who remain in
Zimbabwe. Despite the Movement for Democratic Change’s entry into
government most are still fighting land invasions and fast-track
prosecutions for trespass.
Virtually all white-owned commercial land has been listed in the state
press since 2000 as to be acquired by the government and in 2006 a
constitutional amendment nationalised land designated for acquisition,
depriving the farmers of legal title to their properties.
In the meantime thousands had already been dispossessed, usually
violently, in a campaign that began the downward spiral of the economy
under Mr Mugabe.
Mr Davy, though, has a long-standing business relationship and
friendship with one of Mr Mugabe’s cabinet ministers, Webster Shamu,
who is now information minister in the inclusive government.
The Bubye deal, agreed last year when Mr Mugabe’s party was in sole
charge but only publicly confirmed this week, could not have gone ahead
without at least tacit approval from the authorities.
Trevor Gifford, president of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, sought to
contrast Mr Davy’s position with that of ordinary white farmers.
"It is extraordinary that white farmers, even those on land covered by
bilateral trade protection agreements are not safe from seizure, let
alone white Zimbabwean farmers," he said. "Many farmers have operated
as companies; none of their companies have been safe, they couldn’t
sell shares because they were targeted and have been evicted and chased.
"And yet here we see foreigners walk in and buy land and shares. But some whites are protected by Zanu(PF)."
Mr Davy, who is not on either the European Union or American lists of
Mugabe cronies subject to sanctions, did not respond to questions about
how the sale was able to go through. The Daily Telegraph put questions
to Mr Davy in January this year and again this week, after it was
announced by Dubai World.
Last November he confirmed that he was one of "many shareholders" in
the property. "The Bubye Conservancy was never owned by me, I am one of
many shareholders. I have not sold and remain a shareholder," he said.
It was not clear whether Dubai World had bought its stake from existing
shareholders, or new shares had been issued. The sale was brokered by a
Russian financial firm, Renaissance Capital, which also took a stake in
Bubye.
A Dubai World company official confirmed that it had bought into Bubye,
and its chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said: "Africa is a very
interesting place.
"It is a place where you can see growth. In Africa, you will see double-digit growth.
"Africa is virgin, Africa has so much charm, nature."
Dubai World is one of the world’s most active sovereign investment
companies, running businesses from finance to real estate, and even the
P&O shipping company.
Its principal shareholder is the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid al-Maktoum, who is best known in the West as one of the world’s
leading racehorse owners.
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare and Richard Spencer in Dubai
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Post published in: News