Harare moves to settle compensation claim

Zimbabwe plans to use profits from a mining venture to help settle a $3.5bn compensation claim from white farmers and end a two-decade dispute that’s soured the country’s relations with Western nations and global lenders. Kuvimba Mining House, in which the government holds a 65% stake, intends to raise $1bn for acquisitions and capital expenditure. A report on the News24 site notes that it will invest a ‘significant amount’ of the cash raised on the Darwendale platinum project, which belongs to Kuvimba’s Great Dyke Investments unit, according to COO David Brown. If successful, the company could help meet the $3.5bn the government agreed to pay thousands of white farmers it began evicting from their land in 2000 in a failed land reform programme. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe was also considering selling real estate and raising debt to meet the compensation bill and has appointed three advisory firms to assist it.