National Land registration will unlock over $300bn dead capital, says Dangiwa

In its determination to address the gaps in the housing and urban landscape of the country, federal government, said that the implementation of a national land registration and titling programme would unlock over $300 billion dead capital tied up in undocumented land.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa dropped the hint while speaking in a meeting with the technical mission from the World Bank on Land Titling, Registration and Cadastral in Abuja.

The minister highlighted that the initiative would enable the registration, documentation, and titling of all land parcels, development and launch of a National Digital Land Information System (NDLIS); increase the formalisation of land transactions from less than 10 per cent to over 50 per cent within the next 10 years, as well as train and deploy technically competent land registration officers nationwide.

According to him, other priority areas for collaboration with the World Bank are the implementation of the national urban development policy which contains vital initiatives for improving the management of urban areas; and the area of development of a framework to address systemic barriers along the housing value chain.

He expressed his pleasure in the massive institutional capacity of the bank, as well as their technical expertise and knowledge gathered over decades from implementing similar interventions in countries around the world.

He stressed that his expectation is that the bank would bring in experts who have successfully led similar programmes in other countries, particularly African countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, and South Africa, with similar contexts, and in collaboration with the team at the ministry, state governments, and other critical stakeholders, to design the implementation plan.

The minister lamented the unfortunate 10 per cent statistics of registered and titled land in the country, as well as the low livability of urban centers, but expressed his confidence that the challenge posed an opportunity to make a difference.

“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, we at the ministry are committed to making this difference. With the support of the World Bank under this partnership, I believe we are on the verge of making history in Nigeria”, the minister said.

Dangiwa disclosed a timeline of November to commence work, as agreed in the ministry’s last meeting with the World Bank in September and expressed his confidence that the technical session was a testament that the ball has been set rolling as planned.

The minister also sought a timeline for the integrated implementation plan, as well as deliverables.

Earlier, Senior Urban Specialist and Task Team Leader of the Technical Mission of the World Bank on Land, Dr. Fuad Malkawi, said they were in the ministry to discuss strategic support for land governance in Nigeria.

Malkawi explained that the objective of their visit was to identify challenges facing the country’s land administration; evaluate existing initiatives, and outline strategic areas where the World Bank can provide support to drive sustainable development.

He stated further that the World Bank was keenly interested in land-related issues, ranging from surveying and mapping, to property taxation and infrastructure.

He further informed in a statement that the bank’s goal was to produce a flagship example in the African region while expressing optimism that with Nigeria’s immense resources and ongoing development, Nigeria can set the standard for the rest of the continent to follow.

In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi welcomed the World Bank Technical Mission to the ministry and the country at large, informing the team of the ministry’s great expectations of what they would do.

Ogunbiyi said his direct conversation with Malkawi was an attestation to the preparedness of the World Bank to intervene in the critical areas where the ministry needs assistance.

He reassured the team that the ministry would do all in their parts to support the intervention.