New investments seen as FG partners W/Bank to register land titles

The Federal Government of Nigeria’s partnership with the World Bank to register all land titles in the country has been described as a strategic move that will lead to new investments in land-based economic activities in the country.

The move is apparently the government’s response to the low stock of titled land in the country and limited access to land. It is estimated that 90% of all the land in Nigeria is untitled, meaning that only 5% of the country’s land stock has titles.

This means that only 5% of all the land in Nigeria is bankable or can be used to secure loans from lending institutions. It is expected that the registration, which will run over five years, according to the Government, will attract local and foreign investment.

Land in Nigeria, like other economies, is a very important factor of production where economic activities, including agriculture, industrialisation, and real estate, take place. However due to the tenure and ownership system in the country, land is scarcely available for profitable ventures.

According to Andrew Nevin, former chief economist at PwC, Africa has the most rigid land ownership and tenure system, which is why, he explained, Nigeria has a large tranche of land he described as dead capital with an estimated value that is close to $1trillion.

Many development initiatives in Nigeria have suffered setbacks due to the paucity of titled land free of encumbrances either from government acquisition or native land owners, also called ‘Omonile’.

“A major reason for the dire housing situation in Nigeria today is land. Nigeria has a population of over 200 million but its land mass is small, unlike other nations of the world that also have large populations,” Chudi Ubosi, Principal Partner, Ubosi Eleh + Co., said in Lagos.

Ubosi, who spoke at the BusinessDay Television programme recently, explained that because the land is small and has alternative uses, access to it is limited and it is generally expensive where available.

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In a recent report on ‘Nigerian Real Estate Market Outlook’ published by Northcourt Real Estate, Ayo Ibaru, the company’s chief executive officer, noted that in spite of the limited access to land, a lot of activities have and are still taking place in the country across the states.

“The land market remains active, in more than the struggles in much of the building and construction landscape, where project sites have been reported abandoned due to the surging prices of building materials,” he noted, citing Lagos as an example of cities where land prices have increased by an estimated 31-48% year-on-year.

Ibaru disclosed that the African Development Bank (AfDB) partnered with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to launch a $538 million Special Agro-Industrial processing zones programme in Nigeria, noting that AfDB exceeded its 2017 financing target of $2billion, reaching $2.4billion to support 19 projects across 14 African countries.

He added that the UK-based Central Association of Agricultural Valuers and the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development have partnered to update the transparency frameworks around compensation rates for public land acquisition.

The Nasarawa State government allocated 24.62 hectares of land at Auta-Balefi in the Karu Local Government Area for housing development, while the Lagos State government paid N1.5 billion in compensation to 149 landowners whose properties were acquired for public interest.

“The government’s land acquisition affected Maryland, Pen Cinema, Katangura, Orile, Badagry, Oyingbo Ultra Bus Terminal and Abule Egba. There were property demolitions in Lagos.

Regulator assessments of buildings in Ojota and Ojodu concluded that they were constructed on drainage facilities. Developers on the Lagos shoreline were issued a one-month ultimatum by the Federal Government to either regularise their developments or face revocation and demolition,” he pointed out.

In Ekiti State, there have been government efforts to acquire land for housing and other economic activities. The Northcourt report notes that compliance with land use laws has been prioritised in the identification and removal of illegal structures across the sub-nationals.

“The Ekiti State government allocated N146 million to compensate 46 landowners in Oke Ako, whose land was acquired for a commercial agriculture initiative,” the report says, explaining that the objective is to encourage the growth of the Bring Back the Youth in Agriculture initiative.