Addis Ababa: Unpacking African Land Politics – The Myth of Land Abundance and the New Face of Neocolonialism

Addis Ababa, November 12, 2025 – On the sidelines of the 6th African Land Policy Conference, a side event titled “Debunking the Myth of Land Abundance: Unmasking the Neocolonial Land Grabbing Agenda” brought together experts, African organizations, and land justice activists to expose the real forces driving land reform across the continent.

Over two days of intense exchanges, participants highlighted that the concept of “land reform” holds radically different meanings depending on who defines it. For many African voices, the urgent priorities are restitution, reparations, and justice. Representatives from South Africa and Zimbabwe shared their national experiences in addressing historical land dispossession. Yet, injustice persists elsewhere: in the Democratic Republic of Congo, some communities still claim lands confiscated by King Leopold in 1911—114 years ago—now occupied by palm oil plantations run by a New York–based private equity fund. In Cameroon, local communities continue to challenge the occupation of their ancestral territories by plantations owned by French oligarch Vincent Bolloré.