nyslfriends #433 - Transfer Negotiations
#433 - Transfer Negotiations
When Ding Wei received the map of arable land in Rhodesia, he realized that Rhodesia had excellent conditions for developing agriculture.
Although the Rhodesian authorities hadn't fully assessed their resources, the preliminary survey showed over 40 million hectares of arable land.
Over 60% of the local population was engaged in agriculture, but the cultivated area was only about 6 million hectares, accounting for approximately 15% of the total arable land.
These arable areas had an average annual rainfall of 800-1,000 mm, fertile soil, and a mild climate, suitable for growing various crops.
The main crops suitable for cultivation included corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, peanuts, cotton, tobacco, etc.
The undeveloped arable land was about 34 million hectares, accounting for 85% of the total.
This land was not effectively utilized and had enormous development potential.
No wonder John Bull reacted so positively when Dongda proposed the agricultural cooperation plan.
This land was idle, generating no value, which was a complete waste.
If Dongda developed it, whether it was to meet local food self-sufficiency, collect agricultural taxes, or increase local employment, it would all be incremental income!
For capitalists, it was almost entirely beneficial.
Due to inconvenient transportation, the grain could only be produced and consumed locally; otherwise, no one could afford the cost of transporting it from the hinterland of Black Africa.
It was as if the meat was rotting in the pot.
According to the current land management system in Rhodesia, as long as the land was not explicitly owned by a tribe, the colonial government could freely dispose of it and lease it to a third party for cultivation, with leases lasting up to 99 years and rents revised every 30 years.
Before Ding Wei and his team arrived, several thousand immigrants from the great powers had come to this land, but they lacked farming skills.
Some were adventurers looking for opportunities to get rich, mostly targeting mineral resources.
Therefore, when Ding Wei and his team were selecting land, the agricultural experts who came with Ding Wei, after several days of visits, chose a piece of wasteland not far from Lusaka, Rhodesia.
It was less than 100 kilometers away from Lusaka, which had a railway, and most importantly, only twenty kilometers away from the Kafue River.
The terrain was flat, suitable for large-scale mechanized operations, and irrigation was convenient.
The area was about 300,000 acres, more than half of which was completely barren, and the other half appeared to be abandoned.
"Mr. Lin, part of the area you've chosen is unallocated wasteland.
The area of this region is about 180,000 acres.
Adjacent to it is the Levy Plantation, allocated to Mr. George Levy in 1944.
If you want to take the whole area, there is no problem with the unallocated wasteland, but the Levy Plantation needs to be negotiated with Mr. George Levy for transfer."
Mr. Kuba, the Rhodesian official in charge of land leasing, seemed very approachable and quickly clarified the situation of the land.
"Let's complete the leasing procedures for the wasteland first, Mr. Kuba.
As for the Levy Plantation, could you please help us arrange a meeting so we can discuss the possibility of subleasing privately?"
Lin Zonghan, the director of the Rhodesia project department of Dongda International Agricultural Cooperation and Development Co., Ltd., was proficient in English and had studied law at John Bull's home.
He was very knowledgeable about the laws of John Bull's current trusteeship colonies, which was why he was selected as the director of the Rhodesia project department.
His major was directly related to the job.
"No problem.
According to our current leasing policy, the wasteland you want to lease has a term of 99 years.
No fees are required during the reclamation period and the first 30 years.
After 30 years, we will confirm the rental fee for the next 30 years based on the production situation at that time.
In addition, the authorities will not collect land output tax for the first ten years.
After ten years, it will be levied according to normal farmland.
Mr. Lin, do you see any problems?" Mr. Kuba asked.
The land leasing cost here was quite low.
Even in the current main world, the average cost of leasing land was less than one yuan RMB per mu per year, but this kind of leased land was almost entirely wasteland, requiring reclamation and construction from scratch.
These were standardized preferential policies.
As an international cooperation project, it was not expected to make much money from this project.
The main goal was to have Rhodesia earn money and spend it in Rhodesia, without taking a penny back home.
According to Ren Zhong's plan, apart from the purchase cost of machinery and equipment and the wages of workers, the rest would be used for rolling development locally.
The main goal was to selflessly help Rhodesia develop.
"No problem, Mr. Kuba, let's go through the formalities."
Lin Zonghan had understood these policies in advance and did not hesitate much.
The lengthy procedures for the wasteland part were completed smoothly.
It was not simply a matter of making a few documents in the office.
The most important part was the record map file of measuring and marking the actual leased land, with detailed records of everything.
The overall completed documents were as tall as a person.
180,000 acres of wasteland thus became the land of Dongda International Agricultural Cooperation and Development Co., Ltd.'s Rhodesia No. 1 Plantation.
Looking at the land of over 1 million mu, Ding Wei was somewhat amazed that things had gone so smoothly.
He had not expected it to be so easy to acquire land abroad, but before leaving, Ren Zhong told him that acquiring land was the easiest thing.
The most difficult thing was how to develop it, how to integrate into the local area, and how to turn this plantation into a bridge to build friendship with the locals.
And now, it was just the first step.
However, for Ding Wei, this was just the first stop.
Next, he had to go to several other places, each of which had to lease at least one million mu of land.
The future plan was to establish no less than 30 million mu of plantations in Black Africa, and if conditions permitted, to do more than 50 million mu.
The places that Ding Wei wanted to conquer were all the former eastern Black African colonies of John Bull, but now they were divided into several regions such as Rhodesia, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar, each of which was managed by a trustee governor.
However, these places were still John Bull's old territory, and the various policies were not much different.
Therefore, the next journey was not too difficult for Ding Wei.
When they settled the 300,000-acre No. 2 Plantation in Tanganyika, Lin Zonghan welcomed Mr. George Levy of the Levy Plantation.
It turned out that this guy not only had a plantation in Rhodesia, but also negotiated with the locals in the southernmost part of Black Africa to take over a 60,000-acre plantation, which is now planted with sugar cane and wheat, and is said to be quite profitable.
The Rhodesian plantation is located inland, and transportation is inconvenient. Whether it is sugar cane or wheat, the transportation cost to sell it outside is at least one-third higher than that of the southern plantation. According to the current average yield per mu in the area, it is basically a loss to transport it out for sale!
However, the price of selling to the locals cannot be high. This can be said to be one of the poorest places in the world. Their income comes from digging in the fields and mining in the mines. The ways to make money are extremely limited, and they cannot support high grain prices at all. Only when the authorities purchase grain will the price be higher, but even the price they offer is not enough to make a profit.
After all, he can only hire local workers to grow the crops now. With the natural planting methods here, the wheat produced per acre is probably less than 200 kilograms.
Therefore, after the Rhodesian plantation was opened up for planting for more than ten years, George Levy, who had been struggling on the breakeven line year after year, couldn't stand it anymore. He decisively ran away the year before last and abandoned the Levy plantation to farm in the south near the port.
However, when he heard that someone was interested in his plantation, George Levy was a different person.
Lin Zonghan and George Levy met in a coffee shop in Lusaka.
After exchanging greetings, the two parties did not waste time and went straight to the topic.
"Mr. Lin, I invested at least 50,000 pounds in the development of the Levy plantation. Therefore, even if this land is worthless, the transfer fee of 50,000 pounds is indispensable."
George Levy looked at Lin Zonghan's young face and directly stated his price.
"Mr. George, I have learned about the situation of the Levy plantation. You took it over in 1944. According to Rhodesian policy, your ten-year preferential period has passed. Even if you abandon it and run away, to maintain the plantation, you must pay at least the local average production tax every year. If I am not mistaken, you have to pay at least a few thousand pounds a year to maintain the validity of the lease contract for such a large piece of land. Now you already owe the authorities several thousand or even 10,000 pounds. If the fees are not paid off within three years, the authorities will not only take back the land, but also put you on the blacklist in Rhodesia," Lin Zonghan replied with a smile.
"So, no matter what, this land will only be a cost for you in the future, not a profit."
"If you are willing, we are willing to offer 10,000 pounds to buy out your next lease term. This way, Mr. George can pay off the fees, ensure that he will not be blacklisted in Rhodesia, and also avoid the annual fees in the future. For Mr. George, this is a very cost-effective business, isn't it?"
Lin Zonghan did not indulge George Levy.
After all, he has more choices now. It would be good to be able to negotiate the deal for George Levy's land and form a large farm, but it doesn't matter too much if the negotiation fails. After all, there are still many available wasteland now, and Levy's plantation is not indispensable.
The only advantage is that this place is connected into one piece, which is much more convenient in terms of management. If the cultivation is connected, the management costs will be much less.
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Moreover, the transportation and future sales here will be much more convenient. After all, it is close to Lusaka, the center of Rhodesia, where the population density is the highest in Rhodesia. There are no railways built out of here yet. The current railways only connect the internal mines and cities of Rhodesia.
In Lusaka, Rhodesia, there are several simple smelting factories that refine rough copper and then transport it out by road.
In fact, the biggest source of income for the Rhodesian authorities is from copper smelting.
The grain supply cannot be self-sufficient locally and needs to be purchased from outside. In this way, the external purchase cost is relatively high, and it is not easy to guarantee.
Now that Dongda is willing to open up a large plantation here, it can not only collect some production taxes, but more importantly, if it can guarantee the grain supply in Rhodesia, it would be a blood profit even if the land is given to Dongda for free.
"Mr. Lin, that's not how it works. If that's the case, I'd rather not transfer it," George Levy said after listening to Lin Zonghan's words. This was too far from his expectations.
He originally thought that even if he couldn't recover all the costs, he should at least recover most of the costs to reduce his losses.
Who knew that the other party didn't want to bleed heavily at all.
The development cost of 50,000 pounds was of course just a casual figure. He only hired local people to simply plow the wasteland. There were naturally costs, but how could it be 50,000 pounds.
It wouldn't cost 20,000 pounds to plow it again now, let alone when labor costs were lower back then. He was just giving those natives something to eat.
Adding it all up, a few thousand pounds would be considered good.
However, the cost of maintaining this manor in the future is a solid 10,000 pounds, adding up to at least 20,000 pounds to avoid losses.
"In that case, Mr. George, let's end our discussion here today. Goodbye, I'll pay for the coffee," Lin Zonghan didn't waste any time, stood up and prepared to leave.
Although Lin Zonghan didn't know about George Levy's other businesses, he had a clear understanding of the situation of the local Levy plantation. It would not be easy to make a profit with their planting methods.
Lin Zonghan had even inquired about some of the previous production volume of the Levy plantation from Mr. Kuba.
However, these are not secrets. The authorities have statistics on the yield per acre of local people's current planting. Although there are some differences, the big numbers are not much different.
Since the other party can't maintain it anymore, Lin Zonghan certainly won't spend money unnecessarily.
Seeing that Lin Zonghan was about to leave, George Levy hesitated for a moment, but his mind was quickly calculating the other party's intentions.
However, Lin Zonghan really had no intention of staying to beat around the bush, and directly paid for the coffee and left.
George Levy looked at Lin Zonghan's receding figure, lost in thought.
However, he didn't persist for long and compromised. The two parties reached a deal at a price of 12,000. For this sad journey in Rhodesia, George Levy thought it was still a conclusion. Although he was unlikely to do anything in Rhodesia again in the future, it was better to be blacklisted in one less region.
After all, he still has to sell things back to his home country for his business. If the old rogue from Rhodesia is brought back to his home country, it would be a shock to his commercial image.
After recovering the Levy plantation, Dongda's No. 1 plantation expanded to 300,000 acres. Waiting for the domestic agricultural machinery to be transported to the local area, and directly start farming in Black Africa. (End of this chapter)