(Ecofin Agency) - In Cote d’Ivoire, Botro’s Departmental Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kotchily Gnuan revealed in Bouaké last Friday (Aug 5, 2016) that only 2% of rural lands across the nation has an ownership title. “We have 23 million hectares of lands in Cote d’Ivoire however, since enacting the law on rural land (Act N° 98-750, 23 December 1998) only 2% of these lands has a title of ownership. In fact, after the adoption of the law in 1998, customary rights holders were given a deadline of 10 years to register all Ivorian lands but it was discovered at the end of this period that not even a third of this work had been completed,” complained Mr Gnuan adding that most of these 2% was owned by foreigners, Europeans especially.

Aiming to facilitate populations’ access to registration procedures for land titles, the Ivorian government announced two days earlier the establishment of the Rural Land Agency (AFOR). This should help “simplify and cut costs for corresponding transactions. The institution is flexible with even more flexible administrative and financial operating procedures that aim to efficiently insure securing of ownership rights for land owners and non-owning land users as well,” a statement published by the Concil of Ministers stated.

On September 13, 2013, the government gave land owners ten more years to comply with land regulation.

Souha Touré