Land Law In African Countries

The monograph studies the key aspects of land law of African countries, customary land tenure laws, customary rights to water, forest, cattle grazing; the influence of colonial epoch on customary land tenure systems, and the rights of African women to land. Characteristic features of land and water rights under Islamic law are provided. The current state of formal land law in the countries of North, West, Central, and East Africa is analyzed, including the following: the right of ownership to land and other natural resources, types of various rights to land and natural resources, and the relationship of formal law and customary land tenure systems. For students, graduate students and teachers of law schools, employees of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, as well as for all those interested in land, civil law and comparative legal studies.

This book provides a significant contribution to the literature on land reform in various African contexts. While the economic evidence is clear that secure property rights are a necessary condition for catalysing broad-based economic development, the governance process by which those rights are secured is less clear. This book details the historical complexity of land rights and the importance of understanding this history in the process of trying to improve tenure security. Through a combination of single country case studies, comparative case studies and regional comparisons, the book is unequivocal that good governance is paramount for improving the performance of land reform programmes. All attempts at moving towards more formal secure tenure require congruence with informal norms, beliefs and values, and a set of clear systems and processes to avoid corruption and unintended negative consequences.