Report: World Bank fuels land grabs in Africa
The World Bank Group has indirectly financed some of Africa’s most notorious land grabs, according to a report by a group of international development watchdogs. The World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is enabling and profiting from these projects by outsourcing its development funds to the financial sector.
"Tens of millions of hectares of land on the African continent have been grabbed by foreign investors in recent years. This has led to loss of life, land, and livelihoods for millions, and threatened the very survival of entire communities and indigenous groups," commented Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute. "The World Bank must acknowledge that this is not development. It is not poverty reduction. These are investments for corporate profits that exploit and displace people."
Resources
1) Unjust Enrichment: How the IFC Profits from Land Grabbing in Africa is available at: http://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/outsourcing-development
2) The Outsourcing Development series is available at: http://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/outsourcing-development
3) A database of IFC Financial Intermediary sub-Investments with serious social, environmental and human rights risks and impacts is available at: https://goo.gl/UZ90PI
By pambazuka.org