Hippo Valley battles govt over land ownership

Nyashadzashe Ndoro

Chief Reporter

Hippo Valley Estates Limited, a prominent sugar producer in Zimbabwe, is embroiled in a land ownership dispute with the government.

The company has been operating on agricultural land under a lease arrangement, but the government has recently gazetted the land as state property.

The government's move has raised concerns for Hippo Valley Estates, as it could potentially jeopardise the company's long-term operations and investments.

In its 2024 integrated report, the company revealed that it formally applied to the Government of Zimbabwe, for a 99-year lease on the designated agricultural land under use, which is being finalised.

In November 2020, the company claims it received an institutional offer letter, which is a commitment from the government for security of tenure.

"This development is actually to a limited number of companies and progress is underway on securing the 99-year lease for the area under the offer letter," the company noted.

"Notwithstanding, Hippo Valley South area being gazetted recently through General Notice 93 of 2024 in the Government Gazette published on the 26th of January 2024, expectations are that the existing title deeds suffice to secure entitlement to the land in question hence this is not viewed as state land."

The company milling license runs up to 2040, which means, in the event that the company loses the agricultural land, it remains with the security to the milling business.

The company also banks on the bilateral agreement signed between Zimbabwe and South Africa for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, which should come into effect if anything happens to subsidiaries of South African companies.

In the meantime, Hippo Valley Estates has continued its operations on the land, relying on the existing lease agreement.

The company has also highlighted the importance of its operations to the local economy, noting that it employs thousands of workers and contributes significantly to the country's sugar production.

"Even though the land was gazetted some years back, the company was allowed to continue operating as normal except title to land. In essence, nothing has changed to operations. Sugar is a critical basic commodity for the general populace and the Company employs roughly 6000 employees which the government may not want to disrupt.

"Nonetheless the derecognition of the land and the absence of the 99-year lease, the Directors are satisfied that the future economic benefits to be derived from the use of the Government acquired land will continue to flow to the company," the company said.