Can Americans buy land in RSA, Bots, Tanz, Moz, Zim, Namib, Zam?

Is there a limit to how much? If you bought a number of square miles

and wanted to hunt Big 5 or other animals would you be allowed to?
A co-worker asked me and I have no idea.

Every country has it's own rules.

RSA - Yes

Botswana - Yes, in some but not all areas.

Tanzania - Yes but not large areas and hunting although not impossible is not easy. Hunting Big 5 is as far as I know virtually impossible in most, if not all areas. More likely to get larger areas on long leases from the Govt.

Mozambique. Yes, but not sure about the hunting, although in reality, I'd have thought not.

Zim - Is that a joke!

Namibia - Yes.

Zambia - Yes, I believe so, but Peter Bird should be able to give you the in's and out's.

Buying large tracts of land in Africa is a minefield of hazards though, so beware.

Steve,
Thanks for the overview. I had not a clue!

As for ZIM, yes we recently heard about Mr R. Harland's

farm being seized by the Gov't. I know it's not wise to

buy there, I was just asking about the applicable law.

Thanks again!

Zim may be a joke now, but it doesn't take a degree to work out how it's all going to end up. The same as Moz, Zambia, Uganda and countless other African nations that crashed, and bounced back again. One day things will right themselves and when they start handing out land again, I shall be first in line with my Zim identity card. When that day comes, BigFiveJack, I shall personally give you a call and let you know that Zim welcomes foreign land investors. Hell, I'm writing from an office on land owned by an American citizen right now...

Dave

hi
any suggestion about the price per acre of good soil in zambia ,tanzania or namibia?
regards
yes

Going up by the day. For Tanzania you might like to take a look at www.my-beach.com

Hey David, I was only pulling the collective leg of all you Zimbos..... no offence intended!

quote:

hi
any suggestion about the price per acre of good soil in zambia ,tanzania or namibia?
regards
yes

Namibia- from US$ 20 / ha in the desert areas in the south ranging through the whole spectrum to US$ 300 per ha. (1 ha roughlyequates to 2.2 acres). You will have to have a majority Namibian shareholder though. I am available as a majority shareholder if interested!!!

Shakari

No worries my friend. I juust have to try hard to justify why I'm still hanging around, you know?

Dave

Karl,
I willl not forget your words and your proposal.

quote:

1 ha roughlyequates to 2.2 acres

1ha = 2.4ac....sorry to be pedantic!

Thanks kayaker. Now ALL of my conseccions are even BIGGER!!!

Steve, any time!

quote:

Thanks kayaker. Now ALL of my conseccions are even BIGGER!!!

Nothing wrong with that!

As you well know a ha is a 100x100m and an acre (I believe) is 100x50yrds (91x45m) or something like that!
A Morgen = 1.75ac I think. Jy hoor nog van die ou mense wat van Morge praat....

Cheers

A Square Acre is about 208 feet by 208 feet, 43,560 square feet, 640
square acres = one square mile. I'll take 100 please, in the Selous!

Jack

I cant answer your question specifically BUT I can offer my general thoughts on the matter.

Land worldwide is proberbly the MOST valuable asset on earth and that has been the case since time and memorial.

Africa with it's intrinsic wildlife aspect has added attraction, especially to us outdoors/wildlife geeks.

The main issue with owning WILDLFE land in Southern Africa is the understanding of the regions and management within local laws and edicts, this is not always easy for a foreigner without very good Africa knowledge.

It is a good idea in most instances to consider teaming up with or forming some business association with an existing land owner as they normally have legal title and knowledge of how to operate in Africa.

What a lot of (affluent astute investors) and VIP's are now doing not only in Africa but Worlwide is moving forward into fractional or equity share investment portfolios which have all the benifits of share title ownership local management and a totally worry free operation, this type of investment share can be on sold bequethed and will increase in value all the time. We are personally on this (investment track) ourselves and have teamed up with a professional local develoiper whom has vast experiences in luxury lodges and VIP properties.

WE are moving forward ourselves in association with the developer on a (very special unique) Southern Africa development Wildlife Investment Portfolio called (The Wildlife Collection - BORN FREE) Project which if all comes together will commence in 2008

For those with the will to DIY and have sole ownership themseves it is possible, but you will need to do your homework as property manegment and local edits and issues are the most important issues IMHO.

We have personally purchased a lot of land ourselves and managed it as sole owner/operator, but we are Africa born and raised and although we are not always 100% right, we do have some insider general knowledge of what works and what does not. Remember the world is changing and one cannot predict with accuracy what each new year will bring. WE have had one of our SA farms SOLD BACK to the government for historic land claim BUT this has in fact (worked to our advantage) and we are moving forward with postive thoughts and other land investments regionally

Cheers, Peter

Thanks to you all. I gotta say, I'm going

to look deeper into this. It intrigues

me very much, and who would NOT want to own

a little piece of the great AFRICA. Any-

one who is really in the game, like Peter

of Balla Balla, who is willing to talk on

the phone please send me a PM. Thank you.

Hi Jack

You have a PM

Regards,

hi
are there any retirment imigration program in namibia or tanzania?
Hi Karl
what do you mean by having a shareholder? i want to buy a parcel of land to cultivate vegetable and hunt smal game, not being a shareholder in a big company.
regards
yes

Hi yes

In Namibia you will need a Namibian partner. On something like that, growing veggies, I do not think Namiba is the best. Maybe if you buy a plot of land at Hardap dam, but then you would have very limited hunting.

Hi Karl
Which country is safest for the retired people. i am getting old and wont't fight with theives and outlaws even if they may have a hard time to fight with me
regards
yes

PM has been responded to!

yes, Namibia is a pretty safe place, I just do not think that growing veggies and having some game has been done here! Now if the garden is very small, and the rest of the farm average sized, you can propably make a living from small stock farming or cattle, depending if you want to live in the south (small stock) or central and northern areas.

If I remember right...
If you have a farm in Namibia you have to have it be productive. Alot of Germans have farms in Na as it's cheaper to buy a vacation home there then in germany. The gov decided to many were just that and said start running them as farms and hireing locals or sell out. Cattle prices took a jump while Germans were stocking their farms, good news for the actual cattlemen. My Cop friend in Otjiwarango just bought a chunk of land. Land price was reasonable, survey cost was outlandish!

I believe that the last time I talked to my PH in Northern Namibia that he said that some of the non productive ranches were being taken over by the government. That some German nationals who owned them as private hunting areas or summer vacation places were loosing them because they were not producing anything. So you had better get some cattle and plant some crops. This year I have been told by two different PH's that there is a drought in Namibia, they are loosing animals as well as crops this year, or have not planted so far. Then there is always the problem of poachers. No matter where you look it always seems greener until you cross over the fence.

I have looked at 2 deals in Namibia. The issue is that title cannot pass without giving the gov't first right of refusal on the deal; that makes most potential local partners nervous, as they could end up landless instead of owning the land in partnership with you. Then there's the requirement that no foreigner may own farm land, which means you have to invest as a minority shareholder through a Namibian company. So in other words, you have to have a local partner who has the majority 51%. If the land is already owned by a company, you can buy into the company (and the existing shareholder or the bank gets your money). If it's not owned by a company, it has to pass to a company first and then the gov't starts asking questions.

Now having a local partner while you sit thousands of miles away is a major leap of faith. As the minority, your checkbook is essentially in someone else's hands. In one case, my potential partner owned another piece of property almost adjacent. So he then had to face the daily temptation of "OK, which property shall we hunt today...property A I get 100% of the trophy fee, while property B I get 50%". And "Let's see, which checkbook/debit card shall I use to gas up the family car as we leave on vacation". In other words, you as absentee landlord face only downside risk in a myriad of small ways.

We ended up not doing the deal. Three years later, this partner decided he wanted to become a hypnotherapist so he has left the family farm to a manager, sold the property we would have co-owned, and moved to South Africa. Boy, am I glad I am not in that deal.

Stepping back, there's the concern that Namibia rather regards Robt. Mugabe as a shining example. In fact they used those exact words in a press report I read, and Mugabe's crew have been "advising" the Namibians as to how to "accelerate" the process of land reform.

The gov't is not the only problem. Every so often, there is a bad drought in Namibia. The land is cheap for a reason. And the rabies hammers the kudu on a regular cycle. And the weather is not always as nice as it is when you are there, in the middle of hunting season. The rest of the year it can be brutal.

Third, I have found that anytime a foreigner shows up with a fistful of money and stars in his eyes, the price goes up. The lawyers, surveyors etc. all regard you as a source of megabucks so get ready to open wide...

So I concluded, the only way to work a deal like this would be to retire to Namibia, become a resident, and then buy a piece of land. Otherwise, regard such a deal as an option for retirement, don't expect any income from it in the meantime, and realize you may end up handing it over with little or no compensation under the banner of land for the landless.

The only country I would invest in is Zimbabwe. Horror! Yes Zimbabwe. There is almost no downside left...everything is upside from here. And it's MUCH better game and farming country than Namibia. Some of the best in Africa.

As a follow up to Russ's post, there are exceptions to every rule, but my rule is.....IF someone decides to buy land in any Southern African country, they need to do it with money that is absolutely expendable, consider it as a gamble that may well pay off handsomely but may come up craps any day. One must also consider the severe restrictions in many countries, especially RSA, on foreigner residents owning firearms. I'm not saying don't do it, but I am saying you need to get ALL of the stars and African dreams out of your system and make a hard objective judgement on whether this is how you want to invest your money.

For information on buying land in South Africa please see info at Pam Golding or Pam Golding Real Estate

While the properties for sale listed by them are often the highest prices, it does give a look at what's available.

It appears legally to be fairly straight forward and very possible.

That says nothing about the political or business risks. It is, after all, Africa.

Les

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Every country has it's own rules.

Tanzania - Yes but not large areas and hunting although not impossible is not easy. Hunting Big 5 is as far as I know virtually impossible in most, if not all areas. More likely to get larger areas on long leases from the Govt.

It may also be subject to what you mean by "own". There is, last time I looked, no freehold in Tanzania. In other words, no one "owns" any land. Even Tanzanian citizens only hold emphyotic leases. Since these are transferable I suppose one could call that "owning", but US citizens would liken it to 99 year leases and not freehold.

About one hour ago I was on the phone with Karl Stumpfe in RSA.

I have begun to learn about land ownership in NAMIBIA.

ANYONE ELSE who is willing to talk on the phone to me about details

re: AFRICAN land buying please send me a PM. Thank you.

Jack,

I don't know any details but my understanding is that Mozambique is making it easy for investors to acquire land. Some Zim farmers are doing well there. This is only my understanding from brief conversations while I was in Mozambique this last year. I could be way off of course. Might be worth looking into though.

Mark

Jack PM sent

I'm an attorney and practice property law in Pretoria. At the moment it is still relatively easy for foreigners to own land in the RSA - there are indeed very few restrictions. The government however recently launched an enquiry into land ownership, specifically to assess the pros and cons of unrestricted foreign land ownership. I expect the status quo to change shortly.

quote:

From adam2, "I expect the status quo to change shortly."

I'm sure the news WON'T be good...

quote:

As you well know a ha is a 100x100m and an acre (I believe) is 100x50yrds (91x45m) or something like that!
A Morgen = 1.75ac I think. Jy hoor nog van die ou mense wat van Morge praat....

1 morgen (100yrds x 100yrds) is actually 2 1/9 acre (2.111 acres).

1 hectare (100m x 100m) is 1.1978 morgen or 2.528 acres.

Check your 'sommetjies' from this basic bit of info:
1 yrd = 36 inches and

1 meter = 39.4 inches.

Things are getting bigger and bigger here!

However, what's more important is to know how many hectares you need to support one large stock unit i.e. head of cattle or large game animal, etc.

In good Bushveld conditions you need at least 8 ha's to support one head of cattle all year round.

Só, make your 'sommetjies' (calculations) very careful before you jump into something!!!

Thanks Jagter!