Machangulo affair
2009 Netherlands controversy
The Machangulo Affair was a social and (eventually) political controversy that took place in the Netherlands in 2009. It involved a decision in 2007 by Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander and his wife princess Máxima to invest in a land development project in Machangulo (in Mozambique). It ended on November 20, 2009, with the decision to sell the property.
Background
On 10 July 2008, the Prince and Princess announced that they had – in the second half of 2007 – invested in a development project on the Mozambican peninsula of Machangulo. The development project in question was aimed at building an ecologically responsible vacation resort, including a hotel and several luxury vacation houses for investors. In addition the project was to invest heavily in the local economy of the peninsula (building schools, wells and housing for the local populace) with an eye both towards "responsible sustainability" and maintaining a local staff.
The royal couple stated that they had been attracted to the project since it seemed to be a perfect match for their desires and interests: on the one hand a vacation resort far away, where they might take holidays without too many prying eyes; and on the other ecologically and sustainably responsible, investing in the local economy and ecology (which the Prince and Princess both have a personal interest in). Plus located in Africa, a continent that has been dear to several generations of the royal family. So, after contacting Mozambican president Armando Guebuza to verify that the Mozambican government had no objections, the couple decided to invest.
Controversy
The announcement of the investment was initially not considered anything special in the Netherlands and was generally considered to be "information".
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This entry incorporates text from “Machangulo affair” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.