Gavin Adlington Mika-Petteri Törhönen Veterans of the Late World Bank ECA Land Team What Can Africa Learn from the Lessons of eastern Europe and Central Asia?

Purpose of the Presentation Following the collapse of the socialist systems ‘behind the iron curtain’ in the early 1990’s, the land administration services in the ‘transition’ countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia have transformed from having corrupt and inefficient land administration systems to some of the best and most efficient in the world. African countries, many of whom obtained independence from colonialism in the 1960’s have not made this transition so well. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the operational decisions and actions that worked for the transition countries, that could also work in Africa.

Authors; Experience Gavin Adlington in Malawi as Surveyor and later as Registrar and Adjudication Officer of systematic registration. Urban and customary lands technical adviser and then program team leader for the World Bank in the ECA region with successful interventions in 23 countries. Experience in 8 different African countries and review of African Land Policy Initiative progress in Experience in many other countries in other regions Mika-Petteri Törhönen 1991 – 1997 Zanzibar/Zimbabwe, studies and technical assistance on land tenure and registration 1997 – 2003 Cambodia, systematic registration and cadastral surveying advisory 2003 – 2011 FAO Land Tenure Service, technical work in ECA, EAP, SA, AFR … 2011 – Land and Geospatial (Unit) operative work at the World Bank (ECA, MENA, EAP …)

Why These Two Regions? Differences Africa: Customary land and large squatter areas near towns. Transition: State ownership, privatization and restitution Similarities Practice and laws from ‘colonial’ past A whole continent changing about the same time Millions of properties to register Need to Encourage Economic Development through land markets

In 2000 de Soto equated transition countries systems with the developing world “ … today they look astonishingly similar: strong underground economies, glaring inequality, pervasive mafias, political instability, capital flight and flagrant disregard for law.” “ …most people can not participate in an expanded market because they do not have access to a legal property rights system that represents their assets in a manner that makes them widely transferable and fungible, …

And in 2016?

Thematic coverage of the World Bank Supported ECA land projects ( ) land reformland administrationland management Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kosovo Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Macedonia FYROM Moldova Montenegro Poland Romania Russia Serbia Slovenia Tajikistan Turkey Ukraine Uzbekistan

Land Reform Projects Creation of 300 – 400 million new private properties. Restitution of property to original owners. Optional compensation instead of the literal restitution – State disposed the lands further. Revitalization of cadastral records and the registration system to facilitate sales, leases and mortgages on land. Game changers in the economy. [Note: Apart from few countries, the Bank’s role was rather limited in the land reform projects]

Land Management Projects Planning Regularization Mass valuation systems Land consolidation Land use monitoring; EU systems (LPIS, IACS) [Note: The Bank’s engagement in land management in ECA has increased recently.]

13+1 Land Registration Projects National registration system of real estate rights and transactions Systematic registration of all parcels and buildings. Institutional reforms - single agencies - financial sustainability ICT; joint or unified systems, one-stop-shops and e-conveyancing  Office networks, financial sustainability  Volume escalations: transaction, mortgages, revenues  Efficiency; from months to days and hours.  Loan interest rate impact. Major implementation support collaboration between and and donors.

Land Registration Projects in the Kyrgyz Republic( ) Impact to Sales Transactions 12 Data courtesy of Gosregister 2015.

Land Registration Projects in the Kyrgyz Republic ( ); Impact to Mortgage Transactions 13 Data courtesy of Gosregister 2015.

Economic Impact of ECA Land Registration Projects US$ 483 million US$ 1,072 million 2.22x Economic impact is estimated at 2.22x the initial investment* Return on investment of 122% Estimated total short-term and long-term benefit to the economy of a single registration is estimated at US$ * Excludes the project in Kazakhstan due to the lack of adequate data on the project’s economic impact. In the case of Moldova, the economic impact is defined based on the economic impact per registration derived from data for six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine. All other numbers retrieved from respective project ICRs.

Some key lessons thinking of Africa Do not complain about the past – fix the present and the future The ‘client’ comes first – duty to provide good service Don’t wait for policies and laws to be perfect – start now! Improve the registration of ongoing transactions as a priority Focus on urban areas first – the land market is mostly there Coordinate between countries and ‘compete’

Examples of good practice Use the current law to get started – Kazakhstan. Improve the buildings and customer reception- Azerbaijan Create Service Standards and Monitor them – Bulgaria Build a good business model and business plan – Moldova Automate services – Russia Focus on Public Awareness and Inclusion – Kyrgyzstan Human resources and training – All countries! Systematic First Registration – Serbia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan

Conclusion Clients need services ‘now’, do not wait for policies, laws and systematic land titling programs to be completed first The ‘client’ is the focus, they deserve good quality corruption free service that is simple to understand, fast, reliable and inexpensive Be inclusive – the poor in distant locations, women, the elderly and handicapped also deserve good service Do better than the country next door

Thank You ECA; It has been a pleasure! Thank You for listening and

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