**The Republic of Congo has signed an agreement to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers.**Congo’s agriculture minister said it would bring expertise to the country and reduce its dependence on imports.
South African farmers’ union Agri SA, which signed the deal, said the ANC government’s land policy was forcing white farmers to seek land abroad.
The ANC is seeking to transfer some of the overwhelmingly white ownership of farms to the black majority.
Under the terms of the agreement, South African farmers will lease the land in Congo for 30 years to produce food and fibre mainly for the domestic market.
Congolese officials say the land is made up of abandoned farms that the state used to operate.
The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Johannesburg says the giving of land for foreigners to farm is a growing phenomenon across Africa.
But this is thought to be one of the biggest deals involving Africans investing in each other’s countries, he says.