How land reform can support 2025 Budget and gov’t’s reset ambitions

By Felix Nikoi Hammond

As the Minister of Finance puts it, Ghana’s 2025 budget, presented against a backdrop of economic headwinds, outlines a bold plan to “reset” the nation’s finances and stimulate sustainable growth.

While fiscal consolidation, debt management, mining, and targeted social interventions take center stage, the land economy – a critical source of government revenue- seems again placed as a footnote. Ghana’s land and real estate sector represents a vast, untapped resource that could serve as a potent fiscal lever.

The budget speech emphasizes the need for reform and recognizes the importance of establishing a regulatory framework for property rate collection. However, fully realizing the true potential of land requires a comprehensive and ambitious strategy that goes beyond mere revenue generation to address fundamental issues such as tenure security, land use planning, and transparency governance.

The Current Landscape

As the budget statement eloquently outlines, the current administration’s agenda to reset the economy offers policymakers an opportunity to tackle the land economy’s long-standing fundamental challenges.

• Fragmented and Outdated Records: A significant portion of the official land records remain in paper form, making them susceptible to loss, damage, and unauthorized manipulation. This situation generates uncertainty, fosters disputes, and obstructs efficient land transactions and real estate-backed credit transactions.
• Complex and Opaque Processes: Navigating the land registration system is a bureaucratic nightmare, characterized by lengthy delays, red tape, and opportunities for corruption. This deters investment and discourages formalization.
• Weak Land Tenure Security: Disputes over land ownership are rampant, particularly in rural areas, where customary land tenure systems often clash with statutory laws. This undermines investment, limits access to credit and exacerbates social tensions.
• Ineffective Land Use Planning: A lack of comprehensive and enforced land use plans has led to chaotic urban sprawl, environmental degradation, and inefficient infrastructure development.

Consequently, significant amounts of land in Ghana remain “dead capital,” unable to realize their full economic potential. This stems largely from a lack of clear property titles, which prevents their use as collateral and limits investment and development.

Unlocking the Potential

The 2025 budget presents an opportunity to reimagine land management in Ghana and transform it into a powerful tool for fiscal stability and sustainable development. A comprehensive reform agenda should focus on the following key areas:

• Digital Transformation: A nationwide effort to digitize land records is paramount. This will improve transparency, reduce corruption, speed up transactions, and facilitate accurate property valuation.
• Streamlining Registration Processes: The land registration system should be streamlined and simplified, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and creating a more user-friendly experience. One-stop shops could integrate different land-related services and reduce transaction costs.
• Strengthening Land Tenure Security: Strengthening land tenure security is paramount to unlocking Ghana’s economic potential. Harmonizing customary and statutory land laws to resolve disputes and provide greater tenure security is crucial. However, progress on formalizing land rights through land titling programmes has been agonizingly slow, with less than 10% of land currently registered. This sluggish coverage perpetuates land insecurity, hinders investment, and limits economic growth. Urgent action is needed to accelerate land registration and empower communities.
• Implementing Comprehensive Land Use Planning: Develop comprehensive land use plans at national, regional, and local levels, guiding development in a sustainable and equitable manner. Plans should integrate environmental considerations, infrastructure needs, and community participation.
• Property Tax Reform: Modernize the property tax system by improving valuation methods, broadening the tax base, and strengthening enforcement. Revenue generated from property taxes should be used to fund local development projects and improve public services.
• GDP Growth: A concerted effort to unlock value from Ghana’s land economy is a direct pathway to GDP growth. Streamlined land registration, improved land administration, and strategic land use planning are essential. By transforming land into a readily accessible asset for agriculture, investment, and infrastructure, Ghana can significantly boost economic activity and generate sustainable GDP growth.
• Non-tax revenue: Improving land administration, especially in valuation and revenue collection, offers a significant opportunity to increase Ghana’s non-tax revenue. Accurate and up-to-date land valuation is essential for ensuring proper taxation of land and for guaranteeing that the government receives fair compensation for land transactions and services. Implementing effective revenue collection mechanisms and enforcing compliance with land-related regulations can further boost non-tax revenue streams.

The 2025 budget presents a crucial opportunity to overcome past shortcomings in land management and establish a new direction for Ghana. By emphasizing land reform, investing in innovative solutions, and nurturing a culture of transparency and accountability, we can unlock the immense potential of Ghana’s land resources.

Transitioning from stagnant capital to a dynamic engine, this transformation is attainable through a united effort and is vital for a more secure and prosperous future for all citizens.

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