The UAE-based agribusiness venture Al Dahra is in talks with Kenya for a potential lease deal covering 200,000 acres of farmland in East Africa, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The two parties could reach an agreement in early 2025, with the UAE company likely to spend $800 million to farm the property in an irrigation development, according to Ephantus Kimotho, Kenyan principal secretary for irrigation.

“We are still negotiating, but we might soon sign a memorandum of understanding,” Kimotho told the news agency.

Al Dahra, in which Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ holds a 50% stake, operates more than 400,000 acres of farms in the UAE and around the globe, including Romania, Serbia, North America, Egypt, Namibia and Morocco.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Brinda Darasha)