Land Institutions to Address New Challenges in Africa : Implications for the World Bank’s Land Policy

In coming decades, Africa’s urban populations will expand, and effects of climate change more keenly felt. In this context, land policies and institutions will be essential to allow urban dwellers to access productive jobs, breathe clean air, and live in decent housing; entrepreneurs, especially women, to leverage land for productive investment; and farmers to diversify, insure against shocks, and accumulate capital. Yet, many African land registries perform poorly, command little trust, and have failed to capitalize on opportunities to improve quality, relevance, and outreach via digital interoperability, use of earth observation, and connectivity. Reform examples and literature suggest that (i) regulatory and institutional reforms are key to building state capacity even in the absence of titling programs; (ii) title issuance in urban areas that aims to improve property tax collection, develop markets for long-term finance, and support infrastructure planning, financing, and construction will have higher returns than rural titling; (iii) issuance of digital georeferenced land use rights can help activate rural factor markets and, if linked to farmer registries, improve subsidy targeting and effectiveness; and (iv) demarcation and transparent decentralized management of public land is essential to attract investment, including climate finance without fueling corruption and manage disputes before they escalate into ethnic violence.