Nigeria Partners with World Bank to Register All Lands, Hopes to Revive $300bn Dead Capital

In a much-needed move, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has joined forces with the World Bank to tackle Nigeria’s land registration woes, aiming to bring order to a chaotic system where over 90% of land remains untitled.

The Ministry signed a landmark agreement with the World Bank to register all land parcels within the next five years, digitize the country’s land records, and formalize transactions to bring the system in line with global standards.

“This is very important to our government as over 90% of land in our country is unregistered and untitled,” explained the Minister of Housing, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, during the signing ceremony on September 11, 2024. “Experts estimate a dead capital of over $300 billion. Through this initiative that we plan to implement with the World Bank, we aim to register, document, and title all land parcels within five years.”

The estimated $300 billion in “dead capital” locked up in unregistered land across the country tells the story of immense potential—wasted. Stakeholders, who have advocated land reforms for a long time, believe this new initiative could very well be Nigeria’s lifeline to unlock vast economic growth.

Nigeria’s land registration woes have long been a source of frustration for landowners. Recently, the Lagos State government, Nigeria’s most economically advanced state, added to the urgency of land registration reform by asking landowners to re-register their lands. This development highlights the inherent weaknesses in Nigeria’s land administration framework.

The inefficiencies and inconsistencies of state-level systems have long been bottlenecks in the formalization of land ownership, leaving landowners entangled in endless bureaucracy bottlenecks. Against this backdrop, it is expected that the new partnership with the World Bank will directly address these concerns, offering streamlined solutions that could bring lasting reform.

Dangiwa, in a statement, laid out the ministry’s ambitious plan to register all land parcels across the country within five years. The plan also includes increasing formal land transactions from the current paltry 10% to an impressive 50%, with the introduction of the National Digital Land Information System (NDLIS)—a game-changing tool that promises to finally bring order to Nigeria’s land data, allowing for easier access, registration, and documentation of properties.

For a country grappling with urban expansion, a booming population, and increasing housing needs, this move comes not a moment too soon. With land being a crucial asset, stakeholders in the Nigerian real estate sector have touted the ability to accurately register and title properties as a key step in ensuring that land can be used as a wealth-generating tool, particularly in securing loans and investment opportunities.

Guangzhe Chen, the World Bank’s Vice President of Infrastructure, highlighted the institution’s commitment to helping Nigeria tackle its land challenges.

“We are open to supporting Nigeria in land administration, affordable housing, sustainable financing, climate change mitigation in urban areas, and urban land management,” Chen said during the signing event.

According to Chen, the World Bank plans to leverage successful land registration models from other countries in West and Central Africa to guide Nigeria’s reforms. This expertise will be essential as Nigeria seeks to develop a structured land titling system and provide support for urban planning in vulnerable cities, which are increasingly affected by flooding and rising temperatures.

Ndiame Diop, the World Bank’s Country Director, also expressed confidence in the collaboration, stating that “addressing land registration, with 90% of land currently unregistered, is urgent for the sector’s development.”

Diop confirmed the World Bank’s readiness to provide both financing and technical support to drive Nigeria’s housing and urban agenda, ensuring that the reforms are implemented effectively.

The NDLIS, a critical piece of the plan, aims to revolutionize how land information is collected, stored, and accessed. By moving to a digital platform, land registration could become not only more efficient but also more transparent—reducing the possibility of corruption, one of the current system’s greatest flaws.

State governments, like those in Lagos, will also have a unified system to reference, reducing the inconsistencies and duplications that have plagued land registration processes for decades.

The partnership between Nigeria’s Housing Ministry and the World Bank extends beyond land registration. As Dangiwa explained, another crucial area of collaboration involves urban development and climate resilience.

“We are working with the World Bank on urban livability and developing a framework for systemic barriers in the housing value chain,” he said.

The funds unlocked through better land registration practices—via property taxes, ground rents, and Certificates of Occupancy—could be funneled into urban infrastructure projects designed to mitigate climate impacts, including flooding, which has become a seasonal nightmare for Lagosians.

The housing value chain will also receive much-needed attention, with plans to break down barriers that have long hindered private investment in affordable housing. The Ministry is aiming to attract more investment by streamlining processes and offering incentives for housing development—an initiative that ties into the larger vision of formalizing land ownership.

Can Nigeria Achieve Its Goals?

As lofty as these goals are, the challenges Nigeria faces in achieving them are equally daunting. Registering all land parcels in a country of over 200 million people—where many transactions still happen informally and state-level bureaucracies are often inefficient—will not be easy.

However, many believe the five-year timeline, the World Bank’s technical expertise, state-level partnerships, and the commitment of the Federal Ministry of Housing, if harnessed effectively, will bring the plan to fruition. For landowners in Lagos and beyond, the hope is that this partnership will finally bring clarity to land ownership issues, helping them avoid repeated processes like re-registration.

While this plan offers hope of better land administration, with the potential rewards of $300 billion in untapped capital, many have pointed to the much bigger issue – the Nigerian Land Use Act, which has been fingered as the bane of underdevelopment in the country’s real estate sector. Stakeholders have for long, called for the repeal of the Act, which gives rights to property ownership to the governments.