Ethiopia: Massive Promises, Empty Fields - the Multi-Billion-Dollar Unsuccessful Saudi Project in Ethiopia

What the report says

Premium Times, republished by AllAfrica, says Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc secured 14,020 hectares in Ethiopia’s Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz regions as part of a Gulf-backed push for overseas farmland that emerged in the late 2000s. The project was presented as a major agricultural investment linked to Saudi food-security goals, with plans for billions of dollars in funding, modern irrigation, jobs and large rice output.

According to the article, the farm has fallen far short of those ambitions after more than 15 years. It describes large areas of the concession as idle, irrigation works that are partly unused or damaged, and company acknowledgements that early environmental and feasibility studies underestimated local conditions. The report says seasonal moisture shortages, heavy rains and bird damage all affected production.

The piece also focuses on the impact on nearby Anuak and Nuer communities in western Ethiopia. It says some residents were displaced from ancestral land, lost access to forests, wetlands and river resources, and did not receive the promised compensation or public services. Local accounts in the report also describe poor working conditions, short-term labor, low pay and limited safety protections for many workers.

More broadly, the article presents the Saudi Star case as an example of the risks of large-scale land deals in Ethiopia, where state efforts to attract foreign investors met weak oversight and difficult environmental realities. As background, such projects have often been tied to food-security strategies in investor countries and debates over land rights, labor standards and local livelihoods.