Most people living in African countries do not have formal rights to their land or property. This can make evictions more likely and lock people out of markets.

Over the past 30 years there have been dozens of efforts to change this by handing out title deeds. (1/n)

These efforts at mapping, registering and titling land have had some success—but less than many people hoped for.

Why?

Researchers describe a so-called Africa-effect, where the effects of titling are less pronounced here than in Asia or Latin America. (2/n)

There are a few hypotheses for this effect:

(1) Titling does not matter much if the deeds are hard to use, e.g. if registries do not work well, or cost too much to log transactions, or if you're a woman and inheritance laws will deprive you of land rights in the future. (3/n)

(2) Customary land on which at least half of people in African countries live offers more security of tenure than many assume.

There has been what one prof calls a “quiet paradigm shift” since 1990, in which most African countries have passed laws overhauling this tenure (4/n)

(3) Land is a source of power, and even when titles are handed out and new laws passed, states neglect or ignore these changes.

Corruption between ruling elites, international businesses and traditional leaders (as in e.g. the former SA homelands) undermines land rights (5/n)

It's hard to do justice to such a complex subject but I've had a go in a cover article this week. (6/6) https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/09/12/the-quest-for-secure-property-rights-in-africa